While some people are rightly denouncing the state department’s knee-jerk apologizing for ‘misguided individuals’ who ‘hurt the religious feelings of Muslims,’ I noted with particular interest the skewed notion of ‘respect for religious beliefs’ that their press release says is ‘a cornerstone of American democracy.’ No doubt, such respect really is a cornerstone of our democracy, but the idea that respect means remaining silent, and the notion that resorting to violence in response to an ‘abuse [of] the universal right of free speech’ is not only absurd, but is clearly out of touch with what respect for different beliefs has meant in America.