Thursday, January 8, 2015

Je Suis Charlie

Today yet again we mourn a cowardly and violent attack by Islamist fundamentalist extremists – this time on the journalists and cartoonists of Charlie Hebdo in Paris.

This is, as is widely understood, an attack not only on real flesh and blood people, but an attack on real values, of freedom of speech and expression.

Freedom of religious expression and worship is very important, but everyone needs to understand and accept its limits. Someone’s right to freedom of expression and freedom of action stops at the point of their neighbour’s nose – you cannot interfere with, or impose your views on, or violently seek to silence, others.
 
There can be no place for religious intolerance or religious fanaticism. I salute the day in day out courage of the journalists and cartoonists of Charlie Hebdo, a bravery which stands in stark contrast to the cowardly resort to weapons and hiding behind masks which characterised their attackers.

2 comments:

  1. There is more to Islam than religion! It's a totalistic ideal that encompasses politics, religion, laws and social control. If the followers just worshiped in their mosques, and integrated with the mainstream culture of Australia, then there wouldn't be the problems today, and this polarisation of ideals, and threat to peace, and freedoms. There is a massive divide between the West. Islam has spread because of high fertility levels, US foreign invasions in the Middle East politics, and the liberal immigration policies of the West. Now, in hindsight, we are seeing the world threatened be extremism and terror!

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  2. Imagine there's no countries
    It isn't hard to do
    Nothing to kill or die for
    And no religion too
    Imagine all the people
    Living life in peace...

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