"surely the real value of this right is for occasions when people have more important things to say. I've seen the cartoons, and almost without exception, they have no real insight and nothing positive to offer. They were apparently drawn specifically to mock and offend. While such mockery might be entirely within the rights of anyone in our free societies, what exactly is the point?"

Any society is built on common beliefs and when those break down, it is necessary to question them. In a society that clings to its belief as the highest good, not fact or action, or the beneficial result for the most people, no speech is allowed that questions the belief of the ruling authority.

Mockery is in the eye of the beholder, simply a judgment made out of an emotional response by someone who believes something strongly. The degree of insult or mockery is only a measure of the degree to which the dogma is held. Thus, the king had a ludicrous jester, the only one permitted to challenge the status quo.

Without the right to insult, we would all be whimpering apologists and there would be no true free speech.