Today's news has really upset me. I am pretty blase about terrorist attacks in general, it gets a bit same old, same old - in that they are quite similar and happen far away. However, an attack on satire and political comment is something different. Of course there are the tragedies of the individual deaths, but as a former (uncontroversial) journalist and someone who hopes to make a living from writing, the sense of threat to freedom to write as one wishes is more visceral than you might expect. Of course it's not about ME - and yes, I know Charlie Hebdo was sailing close to the wind, and could occasionally ally itself to the right, but nevertheless, it's legitimate to criticise other cultural practices and beliefs isn't it?
There is a debate about Islamophobia - which I think is interesting, it gives Muslims special status - when really most of the anti-Islamic stuff is racial - white Muslims don't get it, unless they are misguided enough to wear a burqa. I suppose I shouldn't say "misguided" but I would point out that there is no injunction in the Koran to cover your head (unlike in the Bible, where Paul makes a bit of a thing of it).
And of course there is the endless problem that while Christians get it in the neck all the time, we cannot play the same games with Muslims. I don't really know how much these things upset most people, it's hard to say. Fetishising certain things within a faith is not usually very useful - it's "making an idol" of things. Nevertheless I get upset when certain people post aggressively atheist things on FB, but usually because they aren't very accurate, or true.
There are a lot of tributes to the journos, and a lot of sabre-rattling - I particularly liked this cartoon, because it deals with the Muslim/Christian/freedom thing nicely.
There is a debate about Islamophobia - which I think is interesting, it gives Muslims special status - when really most of the anti-Islamic stuff is racial - white Muslims don't get it, unless they are misguided enough to wear a burqa. I suppose I shouldn't say "misguided" but I would point out that there is no injunction in the Koran to cover your head (unlike in the Bible, where Paul makes a bit of a thing of it).
And of course there is the endless problem that while Christians get it in the neck all the time, we cannot play the same games with Muslims. I don't really know how much these things upset most people, it's hard to say. Fetishising certain things within a faith is not usually very useful - it's "making an idol" of things. Nevertheless I get upset when certain people post aggressively atheist things on FB, but usually because they aren't very accurate, or true.
There are a lot of tributes to the journos, and a lot of sabre-rattling - I particularly liked this cartoon, because it deals with the Muslim/Christian/freedom thing nicely.
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| "Oh no!.....Not them...." |
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