I do wish friends and organisations would stop suggesting I post cartoons from Charlie Hebdo on my timeline. Had they appealed to my sense of humour, or seemed to me to tell a difficult truth in a particularly poignant or powerful way, would have shared them when I first saw them. It is not now brave, or controversial to reproduce them. If you are well know, it may be provocative, in a positive or negative sense. Up to 15 people have died, and I dont think reposting cartoons will help demonstrate opposition to killings, or religious or racial bigotry, or help bridge the many gaps in understanding between Christians and Muslims; Secularists and Theists; Socialists, Capitalists, Anarchists and the apolitical. Everyone has a right to offend everybody else. Nobody has the right to kill, however gravely offended. Satire is an essential part of a free and democratic society. Even so, je ne suis pas Charlie.
Posted on: Fri, 09 Jan 2015 19:42:00 +0000
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