Perhaps I've expressed myself unclearly, because you're mostly talking past me.

I've stated outright that blasphemy and offensive art are a fundamental right. Of course murder is wrong, including in this case. I'm juxtaposing Islamic fundamentalism with free speech fundamentalism because I see that as the ideological source of the conflict here, but obviously a violent fundamentalism is worse than a non-violent one.

None of the muslim kids in attendance were in danger because their teacher showed them a work of blasphemy.

That's not what I was saying. The cartoons had gotten violent reactions before - and he went ahead and showed them to school kids. Parents are protective of their kids more so than they are of themselves. He was the one in the most danger, obviously.

I don’t know whether it is appropriate to teach kids in middle school about transgressive art and the nature of blasphemy

Good, you don't know, because that's precisely the question I'm raising. How would you feel if your kid's teacher brought in racist New York Post cartoons, while you yourself feel oppressed by the same racism every day? The parent in the French case called for the teacher to be fired - an overreaction, but the animus behind it I think is understandable. You're an oppressed minority, and your school decides to insult your identity to your kids on top of it.

But that's all the parent did - get angry. Then a fundamentalist shit-for-brains youth heard about the story and snapped. If such fundamentalists didn't exist, then you could insult people's identities to their children all day long. But they do - they're part of the same world system, where France helped screw up the Middle East, armed militias in Libya, Syria, and Mali in recent years, and then benefited from the cheap labor of resulting migrants/refugees.

YES there is a reason to insult their traditions, of course there is. And it is precisely BECAUSE it offends.

This sentence in particular sounds like free speech fundamentalism to me - insulting people for the sake of insulting people. When you do so against people who're already downtrodden, you're preparing grounds either for increased violence against them or for them to lash out with violence at you.

When it comes to dismantling oppressive, backward traditions - insults can be a healthy part of that. But I see zero utility in attacking an image or idea that someone considers holy. Again, you should have the right to do so. But if you bring your insults to someone's home, to someone's child - then you're just an asshole backing someone into a corner because you believe in insults with the same fervor that they believe in their religion.