Cartoonists and religion

I'm out of here for a week. I need to go home and vegetate while (a) watching "Deep Space 9" reruns on the SciFi channel and (b) spraying the side of my house so I'm not knee-deep in lady beetles this year. It faces south and has a combination of brick facade and white vinyl siding -- just the thing to attract lady beetles finding a warm place to ride out the winter.

Before I bug out for a week, a final thought:

This Mark Foley thing has brought several syndicated cartoons that probably would offend a good part of our readership. I need to get on the Catholic League Web site (www.catholicleague.com) and see if they've said anything. There's been a recurring theme by some cartoonists to dress Hastert and Boehner in bishop's clothing and have Foley somewhere in the background.

We probably won't use those cartoons.

Just as we didn't use a lot of cartoons a couple of months ago that took swipes at Islam. One in particular showed an Iranian mullah approaching a large sign saying "Islam." The mullah used a couple of strokes of paint and changed the "S" in Islam into a swastika.

I ask you: Am I too sensitive toward people's religious faith? Should we run such cartoons?

I know it's difficult without actually posting them, but that's what I have to do: Re-think my boundaries.

All comments welcome.

I'll check the site from time to time next week and post some reader comments.

Except for that, I'll see you on Oct. 16.