Je Ne Suis Pas Charlie

I am not Charlie. What I am a is wholehearted supporter of their right to free speech. I admire their bravery and persistence, but on a personal level I just can’t relate to the desire to provoke rather than engage. I don’t see the productivity in mocking the religion of an entire population of my fellow human beings, knowing most will find it in poor taste and the batshit crazy minority will find it grounds to commit murder. I get that it’s satire, and I sincerely hope there is always a place for that kind of humor to be expressed freely, but to me it simply wasn’t funny.  It came off as juvenile and irresponsible. I’m grateful I have the freedom to buy or not to buy and to agree or not to agree with political satire and I hope Charlie Hebdo will always remain in print. I didn't even know they existed until last week, but now the whole world does thanks to the terrorists. And I imagine their audience has multiplied tremendously. To that, I say comme il faut, vous aves ce que vous meritez, des terroristes.

Personally, rather than igniting the rage of a murderous few, I’d like to see journalists create work that sparks an honest dialogue with the millions of sane Muslims on our planet and those of us that seek to understand them better. I believe if we could do that, we would find we have a lot more in common with each other than we have differences.