And boom goes the petrol bomb.
French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo (Charlie Weekly in English) recently published a front page caricature of the prophet Muhammad with a caption that read, “100 lashes if you don’t die of laughter.”
Consequently, the Charlie Hebdo offices were blown up with a petrol bomb. Petrol, Euro-slang for gasoline, is apparently a cheap and effective way of making a household explosive device, since it took a very short amount of time for some crazy terrorist to put it to use.
Depictions of the Prophet Muhammad are extremely offensive to Muslims. Despite this, many French Muslims came out in support of Charlie Hebdo and freedom of the press, citing it as important even if the content is not always sensitive to Muslims. They are asking Muslims not to take the depiction too seriously and calling for peace.
But this isn’t the first time we have seen outcries against broadcasting or publishing depictions of Muhammad. Even “South Park,” depicted Muhammad in a bear suit, caving to the fear of possible backlash if they actually showed the figure without a disguise.
Want to know what makes this situation even better? Charlie Hebdo “has reproduced the image with other caricatures in a special supplement distributed with one of the country’s leading newspapers,” according to Reuters.
This is a classic situation of who is the bigger jackass. On one hand, you have a newspaper that really is just begging to be attacked by printing a Muhammad cartoon. On the other hand, you have some pissed off Muslims who can’t take a joke.
As a member of the press, I think freedom of the press is a pretty good idea. That being said, the press has been known in the past to push the envelope on what is appropriate for print.
In doing this, Charlie Hebdo put the lives of employees and innocent bystanders, who happened to be in the vicinity of the office, at risk. And for what? What did they accomplish by publishing a Muhammad cartoon? Nothing.
That being said, Charlie Hebdo and all newspapers should be able to publish whatever they want without fear of violent retribution from any group, radical Islamists or otherwise.
Learning to take a joke is part of living in Western society.
Nothing is sacred here — get used to it. If individuals fought every time someone insulted them, society would not function.
If a newspaper can print caricatures poking fun at Catholic priests, then they sure as hell have the right to poke fun at Muhammad.
Whichever individual or group was behind the Charlie Hebdo attack needs to just kick back, down a six- pack and find a pretty lady in need of companionship. There is no better recipe for pacifism.
There is no such thing as a justifiable excuse to kill or attempt to kill others in the name of religion.
I stand behind Charlie Hebdo. Its reprint of a caricature Muhammad after the attack shows defiance in the face of violent extremism. The newspaper is now obviously aware of the dangers it faces by printing such a depiction, but Charlie Hebdo is fully within its rights to do so.
Any danger the newspaper faces is on its staff, but I would hope other newspapers around the world would follow suit and print stories in the face of adversity or harm.
It all comes back to tolerance. Tolerance means being able to take a joke and not letting it phase you. Violence is the antithesis of tolerance.
People make fun of Jesus. People make fun of Scientology. People make fun of Mormons. And people will continue to make fun of Muhammad. It’s high time to get over it and have a good laugh.