Berke Breathed was one of the pillars of my childhood. I followed Bloom County with the devotion most people devote to soap operas or presidential campaigns (which, really, are pretty much the same). I daresay I learned more about politics from his strips than they ever taught in school, and the ensemble cast was both endearing and deeply-etched.

He still publishes a syndicated Sunday strip called Opus. Like most folks, I didn't notice the omission of his strip a few months ago. Since then, it's surfaced that most outlets refused to run it for fears of being "insensitive" to the Muslim population. Ironically, only Salon and the Washington Post (but only in their online edition) seem to have had the cajones to publish it.

They're not nearly as bad as the ones from the Jylland Posten that caused so much furor a couple of years back. So, why the trepidation?

Have we become so craven and spineless a country that we can't risk offending anybody? Or is it that we're afraid of reprisals like the ones in France and Denmark?

I'm not sure which is worse. Nowhere in the Bill of Rights is there a right not to be offended, nor is there a right to be happy all the time. There is only the freedom of the press.

If it's physical retaliation we're worried about, then we might as well pack up any misconceptions of the Rule of Law that we have, because the country is now under mob rule. To do anything under the threat of violence is to be living under oppression, which is exactly what the Muslim clergy wants.

Why is it that one group that hasn't made any cultural gain since the 13th century gets so much sway over world politics anyhow?

Throughout our history, dozens of alien cultures have merged peacefully with ours. They used to call it the "melting pot." The idea was that outsiders were welcome to come to this country, so long as they obey the law and assimilate.

Not only here, but across the world, Muslims are refusing to do this. They want their own neighborhoods, and not only do they want to practice their own customs, they expect everyone else to accommodate them. That's where it crosses the line.

They won't stop with, "press 1 for English." They expect to be bound by Sharia law, and they expect others to accept that system. Islamic employees at Publix have refused to help customers purchasing pork products, and Muslim cab drivers in New York turn away passengers carrying alcohol.

How long before they start stoning women in mini-skirts? How long before they claim the right to do so via religious freedom?

It's already coming together in Europe, where minority Muslim populations are causing huge amounts of turmoil. It will only get worse if we give them concessions. In 1939, it was called "appeasement." The face of the enemy has changed, but not his intentions.

Islam is a religion that refuses to accept or peacefully coexist with any other. Politics and religion cannot be segregated in Islam; they are intrinsically bound together.
As such, to accede to any of her demands is to invite even more.

If any of this sounds familiar, it's because the illegal immigrant population from Central America has been pulling the same act for decades.

Of course, this is America, and we can't discriminate against people based on their religion. To do so would be completely antithetical to what we stand for as a country. If someone wants to practice Islam, they get to. If they want to worship the Flying Spaghetti Monster, they have a right to.

But freedom of religion (a phrase that does not appear anywhere in the Constitution, by the way) does not allow someone to violate the rights of others. If I want to open a pork rib and beer joint down the street from your mosque, tough noogies.

You can worship however you like, but do it on your own time. We need to make it clear that the United States will not tolerate the political bullying that has taken place in more passive countries. We don't care what the laws were where you came from. We won't stop the trains five times a day for Salat, and we certainly aren't adopting your language. Get over it.

We don't need to pass new laws. We don't need to violate the rights of our own citizens in the name of "homeland security." All we need to do is refuse to accommodate those who refuse to integrate. If we don't, we go the way of Western Europe.