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Yes, I am Charlie Hebdo. I am also:

 

Chris Ofili

 

Andres Serrano

 

Dread Scott Tyler

 

These good folks selling lawn ornaments on EBAY

 

I of course am not selling anything. I hope the moderator doesn't pull this post due to these links. They are here to prove a point. Freedom of expression doesn't just protect "nice" expression.  You have no right "not to be offended."

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The next issue of the satirical weekly paper, the first since the terrorist attack that decimated the editorial team is completed.
Charlie Hebdo will be on the newsstands on Wednesday 14th January. As every week.

The journalists of the satirical weekly cordoned off around 21:30 Monday their first edition since the attack that killed 12 people last Wednesday, January 7 in Paris.

In these exceptional circumstances, the print run  will be raised to 3 million units against 60,000 normally, and sold in 25 countries.

They thought they killed us, we've never felt so alive. 

une-charlie-png.png

 

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I'm so confused now Maryanne... Right now as I'm writing this, French cultural centers and other reprentations are being attacked and burnt in Africa and Middle East. Did our freedom of speech went too far? There cannot be any excuse for the slaugher that happended  and nothing could ever justify it. Did Charlie Hebdo went too far? I don't know. They mocked the Pope and Jesus and Mary too. Often, they shoked me, but I had the choive to ignore them. 

This is such a sad, sad, sad world...... I took a taxi today and the driver was a muslim. We talked peacefully, he'd never kill for that but he told me he was feeling insulted by these toons. He was so saddened about it. I respect that, as I respect other religious beliefs. 

I just don't know what to think now. Once the emotion and the tears have calmed down, I do believe our society has to deeply think about what should be acceptable or not keeping in mind terror is not and will never be an answer. Censor and terror won't ever be acceptable but I'm wondering what went wrong here. 

I'm sorry if I am unclear and sound confused, it's such a shock. And such a tragedy not just for France, but for all the democratic countries. 

As a christian, I wish i could forgive. But my guts cannot. Anger will pass but healing will take some time. 

Once again excuse me if i'm unclear: i'm so at lost now...

Love you.

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valerie Inshan wrote:

I just don't know what to think now. Once the emotion and the tears have calmed down, I do believe our society has to deeply think about what should be acceptable or not keeping in mind terror is not and will never be an answer.
Censor
and terror
won't ever be acceptable
but I'm wondering what went wrong here. 

Censorship is very acceptable. It's all around us in the form of political correctness (which sometimes is ridiculous). I would see nothing wrong with outlawing/censoring the ridiculing of religions in the same way that other things (political correctness) are outlawed/censored. Imo, having a laugh at other people's expense is bad when the 'other people' are not laughing with you, and religion is one area where those on the receiving end of the ridicule are very unlikely to laugh with you, because real faith is so very deep in a person, and is often the bedrock of a person's life. It can hurt people personally, and often deeply, which is a bad thing to do just for the sake of a laugh.

 


As a christian, I wish i could forgive. But my guts cannot.

As a Christian, there is no need to forgive. God forgives those who ask for it. "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins" (1 John 1:9). Those who don't admit their sins don't have God's forgiveness for them, so there is no need for Christians to offer it freely to those who don't admit it, or want it. The hard part would be forgiving someone who does us harm, and then is truly sorry for what they did, but that's the time when a Christian needs to forgive.

 

One more thing. An evil act, like the terrorism in Paris, is never made alright, or even overlooked, by forgiveness. It always remains an evil act. It's the person who receives forgiveness, not the act, and, even then, the forgiven person still has to pay the price in this world for the act. E.g. a person commits a murder, and then is truly and genuinely sorry that s/he did it. The person can receive forgiveness because of the genuine repentance, even from the victim's family, but s/he must still serve the time in jail in this world for the act of murder.

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valerie Inshan wrote:

 Did our freedom of speech went too far?  Did Charlie Hebdo went too far? Censor and terror won't ever be acceptable but I'm wondering what went wrong here. 

 

Yes, most likely, people feel you took your "freedom" too far, especially with the current cover being plastered everywhere(and others trying to prevent this from happening whenever and wherever possible), and the fact that folks there, are HIGHLY proud of that cover, as wlel as all the other satire posted by Charlie. Be highly proud of the fact that you did not give in to terror, sure. But being highly proud of criticizing others' religious beliefs and practices and no longer using it as merely even satire(though, even that is subjective, and often, seen as offensive when it comes to religion) is, well, frankly, awful of you. And I am using you, etc.. as a general term, not just you, personally.

Of course terrorism should never be acceptable. But, who gets to define what terrorism actually is? Do you not think attacking others' religious beliefs might just come across as your own brand of terrorism? Terrorism need not be physical to exist, or do harm.

I am actually someone who, very strongly, supports the freedom of speech, and supports others' ability to post satire and things they might deem funny and acceptable, while others may not agree. However, I also support folks who find it disgusting and refuse to support it. I do not believe those finding the way Charlie Hebdo acts as disgusting to act out physically against anyone for it, but I do support people who believe Charlie has gone too far, to be able to verbally state exactly that, and to protest/boycott if they feel the need(though few would do so after what recently happened, anytime soon, I wouldn't doubt there are plans in the worls for such things in the future, this isn't the first time people thought they stepped over the line). The freedom of speech goes both ways.

I don't condone, or support attacks on others, burning centers, and physical terrorism. But, I also don't support verbal terrorism. I'm not going to state my entire opinion on this matter, as it will come across crass and insensitive of me, but I do think people need to take a good hard look at the whole We are Charlie movement here, and how much damage some of the responses can actually do to the cause. The newest cover, is probably pushing the limit for a lot of folks, and like it or not, someone out there is going to say "you're asking for it" if you keep pressing buttons over and over again. I'm not the person that will say it, but someone out there, is. It's wise to remember when and when not, to poke the bear.

There is a reason many news outlets, papers, websites, etc.. are refusing to show that cover, and it is NOT just to try and stop your freedom of speech. 

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Phil, Tari, I hear you. I'm sorry... Maybe i should have not started this thread in the first place. Emotion took over brains and rational thinking for the last 10 days.

As a graphic designer, I replaced a friend at Charlie a few years ago for one month. Yes, they were gross, irreverant, anticlerical et definately not politically correct. But they were also the nicest and gentle guys I've had the chance to meet. I am more mourning this guy's lost than freedom of speech and I apologize if my previous posts were unclear.

BUT, i stand strong on this: people living in France (pr any other country) must accept and respect the rules. This is what a secudemocray should be. 

 

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I don't believe for a moment that you or anyone else should apologize for showing your support for the people at Charlie Hebdo.  I believe that what Tari fails to understand is that people are not buying that magazine in support of the views express within it, they're doing so in support of those who are expressing those views and their right to do so without being gunned down like rabid dogs for doing it.

The very notion that criticism of religious institutions should somehow be off limits is the complete opposite of the very idea of free speech.  Satire is not terrorism and should not be treated as such.  Even the most incendiary of speech does not cause the type of damage that does a bullet to the head.  When we stand up in support of free speech, we must do so in support of those with opinions with which we agree and also of those with opinions with which we, not only disagree, but may find offensive.

...Dres

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valerie Inshan wrote:

I'm so confused now Maryanne... Right now as I'm writing this, French cultural centers and other reprentations are being attacked and burnt in Africa and Middle East. Did our freedom of speech went too far? There cannot be any excuse for the slaugher that happended  and nothing could ever justify it. Did Charlie Hebdo went too far? I don't know. They mocked the Pope and Jesus and Mary too. Often, they shoked me, but I had the choive to ignore them. 

This is such a sad, sad, sad world...... I took a taxi today and the driver was a muslim. We talked peacefully, he'd never kill for that but he told me he was feeling insulted by these toons. He was so saddened about it. I respect that, as I respect other religious beliefs. 

I just don't know what to think now. Once the emotion and the tears have calmed down, I do believe our society has to deeply think about what should be acceptable or not keeping in mind terror is not and will never be an answer. Censor and terror won't ever be acceptable but I'm wondering what went wrong here. 

I'm sorry if I am unclear and sound confused, it's such a shock. And such a tragedy not just for France, but for all the democratic countries. 

As a christian, I wish i could forgive. But my guts cannot. Anger will pass but healing will take some time. 

Once again excuse me if i'm unclear: i'm so at lost now...

Love you.

It is because I am a Christian that I support the right to publish offensive things: going forward in a post-Christian culture, it may be Christians whose right to free speech is threatened.

Like you, I choose to ignore the many things I see that offend me -- there are people I like whom I have stopped following on Twitter for this reason. The media and entertainment is full of sneeringly ignorant and offensive stuff, but I just wince and ignore. 

David Brooks had an essay in the NYTimes called I am not Charlie, which pointed out (as has been in this thread) that we have hate speech laws in the US which do indeed restrict offensive things that can be said about certain groups (but not others!). This is of course now an issue in France as well. This horrible event has certainly highlighted the inconsistencies in laws abridging freedom of speech.  Certainly the free world needs to define what freedom of speech really means, if we intend to call upon the rest of the world to recognize our right to it.  

That said, of course I would be delighted if everyone had good manners and respected others' beliefs, but I dont think this is something that should be legislated. 

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