Blasphemy in the United States used to be punished by death or torture, but the controversy in Europe around the Prophet Mohammed cartoons is different.

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Since the mid-20th century, free speech advocates have kept the religious complaints out of the legal realm. Today talk shows, movies and TV programs can make fun of Jesus, for example, with little deterrence except a possible boycott.

Compare this to the 17th-century Maryland law by which a blasphemer could be sentenced to have his tongue nailed to a tree.

Mark Galli, managing editor of Christianity Today, said Christianity is a majority culture in the United States, thus criticizing it isn't considered as offensive. Islam, on the other hand, people are more cautious around, he said.

Sayyid M. Syeed, secretary-general of the Islamic Society of North America, said you can't use a U.S.-mindset to understand the Muslim outrage in Europe, The Washington Post reports.

There is a history of colonization and oppression by Europe of Muslims, which compounds what might be seen as a tasteless but otherwise legal insult like the comics of Mohammed published in papers across the continent.