Can't sleep tonight, thoughts with my French cartooning colleagues, their families and loved ones #CharlieHebdo pic.twitter.com/LqIMRCHPgK
— David Pope (@davpope) January 7, 2015
I blame “Islam” for the murders at Charlie Hebdo precisely as much as I blame “Christianity” for the Americans who bomb family-planning clinics and kill doctors. Damaged people commit terrible crimes. Those of us who are people of faith have a responsibility, if we can’t divert their attention into less horrific channels, at least not to encourage the madness.
I don’t agree with George Packer’s post at the New Yorker. I do appreciate Ismael N. Daro’s take at Canada.com:
… “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it,” the maxim often misattributed to Voltaire, does not say anything about adopting the views of those we disagree with in case of violence.
The well-meaning but misguided insistence that news outlets now republish the offensive cartoons also gives unwarranted credence to the attackers’ worldview, in which mere images of a long-dead man take on near-supernatural powers. Republish them or not, but we’re not fighting for the soul of humanity here.
One Canadian outlet that is purposely avoiding publishing the images is CBC News, according to an internal memo gathered by media critic Jesse Brown.
“We wouldn’t have published these images before today — not out of fear, but out of respect for the beliefs and sensibilities of the mass of Muslim believers,” David Studer, director of journalistic standards and practices, wrote to staff. “Why would the actions of a gang of violent thugs force us to change that position?”
That strikes me as… reasonable?…
RT @JeffersonObama: R.I.P. Ahmed Merabet, a French #Muslim Cop, first victim of #CharlieHebdo attack pic.twitter.com/TMQsJCCKB5
— Pnthrgrlgail (@Mama4Obama1) January 8, 2015
They want to scare us away from invading Iraq, Iran, Syria and Afghanistan. RT @ZaidJilani: Do we even know the Paris attackers' motives
— Jeb Lund (@Mobute) January 7, 2015
Media tells us the attack in Paris has been the worst terror act in Europe since 10 years. Utøya? 77 killed by an islamophobic psychopath?
— aida (@Aida_Azadi) January 7, 2015
I noticed that ISIS & Islamophobia trolls almost use the same language to attack their critics.
— Maher Arar (@ArarMaher) January 8, 2015
Today's news will assert that a crazy, White outlier attempted to bomb an NAACP office, and that Islam carried out a terror attack in Paris
— Cookie (@JamilahLemieux) January 7, 2015