From the title, you will already have picked up a little of my thought process. The attack happened on 7 Jan, this entry was written 13 Jan. Here is the Wiki article.
The magazine has just published its first issue since the shootings.
First I should declare my position, I am a practising Christian, politically I am liberal, with both a small and capital 'L'. We live in a Liberal Democracy, we are told. It is a great achievement of many people in our history who have made sacrifices so that we can live like this. Within the rule of law, we have 'free speech' and tolerance. The only thing that is not tolerated is intolerance - that is described as 'not appropriate'.
I am going to offer some reflections on the attack and how we should respond.
I noted in the immediate aftermath that even the more extreme voices played down the 'blame' being put on all Muslims. We had rather ridiculous pictures of the KKK with the caption that not all Christians are responsible for their acts, next to a picture of the black ISIS flag with a similar Islamic caption. Hardly worth saying? Well, perhaps the obvious needs to be stated.
Then the phrase "Je suis charlie" (Spartacus has a lot to answer for) began to spread. So while all Muslims must not be associated with the acts of terror, plenty of people were prepared to put themselves on the side of the satirists. I am not one of them. The satirists intent is to shock and offend to some degree to make a point. I cannot stand with them - it is not my intention to offend, though I may frequently do so, I do try to avoid it. Points can be made politely. I can though affirm their 'right' to say what they say, in the way that they say it.
I wonder if the "Je suis charlie" badge wearers realize that they are stating their preparedness to give offense?.
"Nobody said life was fair" is a common expression, it is also true that nobody can expect to get through life without being offended. We are 'granted' many 'rights' in our country, nowhere does it say we have the right not to be offended. As a Christian, I am regularly offended by various portrayals of Jesus, usually by people who don't understand what they are saying. Mostly they are trying to be funny. Sometimes I can laugh with them, sometimes I am too disgusted. My reaction is to pray for them, and sometimes myself. So far I have not had the desire to kill any of them. Even if I did, my understanding of how we are called to live (love your enemies) would ultimately prevent such an action.
Responses
As we grieve for the dead, and pray for those who have lost family members and good friends and as we recover from our shock and our anger subsides, what can we do to prevent something like this happening again?
If we are to protect our freedoms, and not undo the work of centuries of sacrifice, our best response is to "keep calm and carry on". That seems to be pretty unlikely, as each time something like this happens there is a call for more security. The French have flooded their country with armed troops. David Cameron, our Prime Minister, is talking about reading all our e-mails, and giving extra powers to the security forces - despite the fact that it would not have made a jot of difference in this case. I still remember the use made of the Prevention of Terrorism Act. It was used to evict a noisy, disruptive old man from a party conference - hardly appropriate. We should not forget Lord Acton's comment "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."
One comment I heard suggested that the cartoons showing pictures of the prophet should have been published everywhere. The person who made the comment was a Muslim, I believe. That would have put a very different shine on things a long while ago.
We should also try to find ways to strengthen the Muslims in our society and bring them closer to our ways of thinking. (What a Christian who wants to convert people - surely not!) I'm really not talking about conversion, but encouragements to improve the management of their faith so that radicalization becomes impossible.
The thing we should not do is to 'self censor' what we say and do - that would be a victory for the terrorists.
Too much in this debate becomes divisive, so perhaps if little or nothing happens that is our best way forward.
My only dismay is that the terrorists were shot dead, I would have much preferred for them to face the courts for the crimes they committed.
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