While I agree that one reason Christians are considered “fair game” for offense is that we can be accused of not observing our religion properly if we react violently, there is another reason. There is the spiritual adversary whom the Bible says prowls about “like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” Modern man believes there’s no Devil outside the movie theaters. Ancient and medieval man believed all sorts of things about what held the earth up and whether it or the sun moved, and how. There is no record of the colossal quakes that would have resulted if the relation of the Earth and Sun became different when Galileo’s views finally reached majority support. Popular belief has little effect upon reality. Sadly, the opposite is also often true: reality seems to have little effect on popular belief.
