As we survey the reaction of spiraling violence against the Danish cartoons which are deemed insulting to Islam, one cannot but wonder how the Holy Prophet himself would have reacted to insults cast against him.

One can understand the feeling of outrage against anyone who insults something or someone that one holds as holy and sacred, but it is difficult to understand the extent to which some people can go to defend the honour and dignity of God and and His Prophets - as if God needed anyone to defend Him.

It would have been more gratifying if the same zeal and energies are used in the defence of God's more vulnerable creations such as poor widows, orphans, homeless people and the marginalised in society, or in combating corruption, poverty and hunger.

We certainly cannot condone the publication of any kinds of material that is insulting to any religion, even under the guise of freedom of expression, but we have to be careful about how we respond to such insults, lest our actions reinforce the very stereotypes that we are fighting against.

Fortunately, our country has not experienced the kind of violent reactions that we witness in many other parts of the world; our Muslim brothers and sisters by and large, have demonstrated admirable restraint in responding to the offensive cartoons while registering their protest and outrage in the strongest, civilised manner possible.

However, the action taken by the authorities against the Sarawak Tribune is disconcerting. By suspending the newspaper's publishing licencing indefinitely, the authorities seem to be exploiting popular sentiments to send a strong reminder to the press about who is in control of their very existence.

The editor(s) of the newspaper may well have made a serious error of judgement in publishing the offensive cartoons for which the newspaper has unreservedly and repeatedly apolgised, in addition to removing an editor.

If the authorities continue to hound and penalise the newspaper, ostensibly to protect the good name of Islam, they would seem to be demanding the proverbial pound of flesh - an action which is quite repugnant to any religion. It is not a sign of weakness if justice is tempered with mercy.