The Sept. 16 Doonesbury cartoon strip by Gary Trudeau could not have been printed at a better time. This strip pokes fun (if that is possible) at strongly held religious beliefs and at the political leaning of a certain southern state.

In view of recent world events, it doesn’t take much to imagine what might have happened if this cartoon had made fun of the Islamic faith or of the Prophet Muhammad. All hell would have broken loose, not necessarily by all Muslims but by extreme Islamists who cannot be controlled.

By comparison, it will be interesting to see if the religious right (or others) storm Trudeau’s home or his work place. Don’t count on it.

While we do have extremists (religious and otherwise), we have not yet reached a point where we have lost our First Amendment rights, and our democratic way of life allows for the inclusion of opposing political and religious viewpoints.

Chuck Burns

Vassalboro


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