These are sad days of misguided polarization. Last year too many people felt compelled to pick sides when Putins Russia and the West were both wrong.(They still are). So instead of taking care of real and urgent problems we had a little cold-war-revival. Now something similar seems to be happening as people argue whether or not the satirists who were murdered in Paris were part of the good guys, and whether the attack was about freedom of speech or about causing sociopolitical tension or simply the act of madmen. The first question is irrelevant because we can never tolerate violence as a response to satire. So, whether you regard blasphemy as tasteless, as ok or even as important (as I do) doesnt change the fact that those satirists were murdered. The second question is more interesting but, once again, there is no need to pick one side or accept one answer as the sole truth. This time, I think, both are correct and the two approaches are not mutually exclusive: yes, when satirists are attacked, freedom of speech is attacked, and yes, the forces behind the gunmen are probably more interested in power and politics than in blasphemous cartoons. These are two different issues with different backgrounds and on different dimensions but they are equally real. And so are many other factors as well. Yes, the far right takes advantage of the situation, dont let their voice control the discourse! No-one should be afraid to criticise islamists just because a bunch of muslim-hating right wingers criticises islamists too. If we stick to timid PC and allow the populists to monopolize criticism, all we hear will be stupid generalizations and the demonization of all muslims. There are those who seek conflicts and provoke violence - but Im not talking about satirists... watch out for those who benefit when there is blood on the streets. Dont let them win.
Posted on: Fri, 09 Jan 2015 20:08:00 +0000
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