Well, no actually, being a cartoonist is a rather safe profession - so long as you are in no way depicting a man from 1400 years ago named Muhammed.
You may be familiar with the situation facing Dutch cartoonist Kurt Westergaard. There's also the recent controversy involving the creators of "South Park".
Now, there's the case of Lars Vilks:
A Swedish artist who angered Muslims by depicting the Prophet Muhammad as a dog was assaulted Tuesday while giving a university lecture about the limits of artistic freedom.
Lars Vilks told The Associated Press a man in the front row ran up to him and head-butted him during a lecture, breaking his glasses but leaving him uninjured. It wasn't immediately clear what happened to the attacker.
Vilks has faced numerous threats over his controversial drawing of Muhammad with a dog's body, but Tuesday's incident was the first time he has been physically assaulted.
As the story notes, there are those who would just as soon do much worse to Mr. Vilks. Here's the video of the assault:
As for why I've included Vilks' cartoon - which could, conceivably, offend people who are just as aghast as this violence and intimidation as I am - PZ Myers puts it well:
I think it's only appropriate that Vilks' sketch of Mohammed as a mangy cur should receive wider circulation because of the vileness of their response.
Or to put it another way, intimidation should always backfire.
UPDATE: Blaming the victim.
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