The view from my chair - Charlie Hebdo edition
- Details
- Published on Monday, January 26, 2015
By Alan Gillies
G.E.M. Media
People were shot because they drew cartoons.
It crushed me to learn of the terrorist attack and mass murder at the offices of Charlie Hebdo in France.
Charlie Hebdo is a satirical French magazine, its name taken from the comic strip Charlie Brown and hebdomadaire (鈥渨eekly鈥�).
God protect those of us who go into greater descriptive detail.
Muslims believe that any image of Mohammed (Muhammad) to be blasphemous and Charlie Hebdo had published comical drawings of the Prophet, right on the cover, more than once.
On Jan. 7, two masked gunmen, later identified as Muslim brothers Cherif and Said Kouachi, murdered 12 people, apparently believing that Allah had been offended and could be avenged by the deaths of cartoonists, journalists and also policemen.
Killing someone to 鈥渁venge鈥� the honour of your almighty deity is ridiculous. I鈥檓 pretty sure that if Allah was so grievously offended, he could have taken matters into his own hands.
And much like the sixth Commandment of the Decalogue that Jews and Christians know as 鈥淭hou shalt not kill鈥� (albeit the true literal translation is 鈥淭hou shalt not murder鈥�), the Qur'an says: "Whether open or secret; take not life, which Allah hath made sacred, except by way of justice and law: thus doth He command you, that ye may learn wisdom.鈥�
After 9/11, patriotism in the United States swelled similarly to the post-WWII return of fighting men and women. After the incident in Paris, a 鈥渦nity rally鈥� of over two million French citizens took to the streets, carrying the slogan 鈥淛e suis Charlie鈥�. The Hollywood elite showed support at the Golden Globes by branding themselves with the same three words, which have now become an internet hashtag #JeSuisCharlie. The magazine that had previously published 60,000 copies weekly is now printing three million.
Freedom. Nice try, bad guys, but we鈥檙e still here, and every time you try to hurt us, you make us stronger.
Islamic extremists shot French citizens who were openly critical of society, including that which is incomprehensible, insensitive, and insane about political religious extremism (regardless of whose politics and/or which religion).
We call it exercising the right to freedom of speech, which is indeed a right, provided it be not in personal slander (although that happens all the time) or an incitement of acts dangerous to others.
In all honesty, our own most sacred religious texts, were they to be taken literally, could be considered hate literature. The Old Testament was written at a time when slavery and death by stoning were not considered barbaric. The Christian religion celebrates the martyring of its leader by crucifixion (thankfully no longer an accepted practice) with its very symbol.
The difference between modern Western civilization and the traditional Muslim world is self-evident earlier in this very sentence.
The West has grown up, developed tolerance and believes that the greatest asset to a society is an informed and literate electorate. We鈥檙e no longer subject to the scriptural interpretations of current religious leaders, and we鈥檙e free to choose which church at which we will worship, even if that means none at all.
Meanwhile, elsewhere, it鈥檚 apparently believed that it鈥檚 acceptable to beat, torture and kill anyone and everyone who doesn鈥檛 subscribe to the strict, literal teachings on one religion. Women are treated like chattel. Education is minimal.
Geez. I have rivals who are incompetent, promote lies, and think they鈥檙e funny, entertaining and interesting. I have no intention of killing them, though. I just laugh at them, because I defeat them regularly with dedication, facts and by actually being funny, entertaining, and interesting.
I guess that was what I had intended as my real topic this time: maturity. I鈥檝e grown up. I sure wish those whose devotion to Islam has them believing that strapping on some explosives and blowing up themselves and hundreds of others 鈥渋n the name of Allah鈥� would grow up, too.
Grow up, don鈥檛 blow up. Now, there鈥檚 a catch phrase. Have they learned nothing from Jeff Dunham and Achmed The Dead Terrorist?
Shouting 鈥淎llahu Akbar鈥� (鈥淕od is greatest鈥�) while slaughtering innocent civilians, then claiming that 鈥淎llah has been avenged鈥� isn鈥檛 going to convert anyone to Islam.
My own religion is familiar with this: 鈥淰engeance is mine, saith the Lord鈥�, meaning that only God is allowed to avenge. To Muslims, Allah is known as 鈥淭he One and Only One who has the right to exact vengeance鈥�.
So, let鈥檚 leave vengeance to God, because, you see, Allah and Jehovah and Yahweh and just plain, good-old, capital-gee God are all the same omniscient and omnipotent being. 鈥淚magine all the people, living life in peace鈥�. Shouldn鈥檛 that be an attainable goal?
Until that happens, as a humourist, I'm more than happy and proud to paint the target on my own back as often as possible.
Je suis Alan, mais aussi, je suis Charlie. Tout le monde, nous sommes Charlie, et la gloire 脿 Dieu.
