I am an ex-Muslim. If I would draw a cartoon of Mohammed slipping on a banana because of bad karma and publish it under my real name. My life, my parent's life, and my whole family's life would change dramatically. Or maybe only my life. Because a thing like this is considered above family bonds. And I hate to admit that...
I've got a nice, sharp, divisive opinion that I'd love to debate. I believe that corporal punishment, including lashing, should be reinstated for certain classes of crime. Whenever a man or woman acts to better themselves at the detriment of their community in a non-violent fashion, they should experience pain for doing so. Maybe give them the option of a whipping or having to carry a big sign saying 'I stole from my workers retirement plans' or what have you, in certain cases. Prison is expensive. Putting non-violent offenders in cages doesn't make sense to me. But there has to be some hard deterrent to act as a safeguard against the worst impulses in our human nature. We call this barbaric, but we end human lives regularly in this country. And not always cleanly. I do not support whipping someone for voicing an opinion, but I'm not talking about what this guy was accused of. The Saudi's still decap people on the reg.
As it is clearly pointed out in the Torah, and further reminded by Jesus (per the Gospels), when a community is of one mind ("pure") then the punishment is a necessary corrective. Otherwise, it is simply violence. (Since the barrel is mostly filled with rotten apples, to begin with ...) To wit, the British Empire installed Saudi-Wahabi Islam is in itself an "insult" against Islam, & the Messenger (SAWS).