Dewulf comments

I also agree with Miyazaki - the point is NOT 'freedom of speech' (cmon, we already know we have that in the West).....the point IS that Muslims are now living alongside Christians, Jewish people, etc in Western countries, and we all need to get along.

If we show respect to everyday Muslims when we can, we are encouraging harmony between our cultures, and that alone makes it worth it. And this makes it easier for us when we do need to lay down the law (eg. regarding anti-Western preaching, FGM, forced arranged marriages, honor killings, etc).

Perhaps most importantly, It also means less incentive for Muslim youth to turn militant. If you truly want to end a conflict, sometimes one party needs to be the 'bigger man', exercise some maturity, and reach out. No doubt ISIS and the like are beyond reach (after all they're more warlords using Islam for their own agenda than anything else), but there are many more Muslims on this planet who don't yet side with the extremists, and it's not going to hurt us to show them some respect.

(PS. please note, this opinion does not in any way condone the attack on the Charlie Hebdo office - rather, contrary to what so many people apparently think, I'm saying that this is not a black-and-white, right-or-wrong matter....just because the extremists were wrong to attack that office, does not mean we should continue to treat Islam as Charlie Hebdo did).