This morning we find that the Islamists have a murderous sense of butthurt. Charlie Hebdo is anticlerical. It is satirical. It is rude. And this offends the Islamists overmuch. I am not Christ, but if he said to the Pharisees that their father was not Moses but Satan, for they lie, like he did from the beginning, how much more is the Father of Islam from the pit. Mohammed was a pedophile, rapist, murderer and slaver, and the current bunch are humourless copies of him.
At least 12 people, including ten journalists and two police officers, are reported dead in an attack by gunmen on the Paris offices of left wing satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo (‘Charlie Weekly’) on Wednesday morning. Le Parisien reports that cartoonists Stephane ‘Charb’ Charbonnier, Jean ‘Cabu’ Cabut, Georges Wolinski, and Bernhard ‘Tignous’ Verlhac are among the dead. Charb was also the magazine’s editor-in-chief.At least ten more were injured in the attack, with five said to be in critical condition. The same magazine was firebombed in 2011 following the publication of a satirical cartoon featuring the prophet Muhammed.
Eyewitness reports claim that three attackers armed with assault rifles and possibly a rocket launcher entered the offices of Charlie Hebdo on Rue Nicolas-Appert on the morning of Wednesday January 7. They opened fire in the offices, with reports claiming between thirty and fifty shots were heard, before fleeing the scene by car. The police officers who were killed appear to have been present as security in response to threats issued against the magazine.
Charlie Hebdo is known for its bitingly irreverent tone and its condemnation of religions. The attackers are believed to claim to represent Islam, with one eyewitness saying one of the attackers shouted, “the prophet is avenged” after the attacks. In the past, Charb defended the magazine’s decision to publish cartoons mocking the prophet Muhammed by saying, “Muhammad isn’t sacred to me.”
French President Francois Hollande visited the scene earlier today, and condemned the attack for its “exceptional cruelty” and pledged that the perpetrators would be “hunted down as long as necessary.” The mayor of Paris, Ann Hidalgo, has called for a march on Wednesday evening in defiance of the attack.
If we stand for the truth, we will be opposed. We may be oppressed. We could be killed. The fact we may be considered leftist and anticlerical or right wing and monarchist matters not: the father of lies hates truth and will try to shut us down.
I have talked about free speech before. It is far better to have free speech, even blasphemous speech, than to have silence, and an inability to discover what is true or good. Good writing, good speech (and I don’t think my writing, stylistically, is ever that good) will drown out bad speech.
Unless it is shut down. They have hit the satirists: they are already burning the churches. Islam is AntiChristian. May the Muslims repent and turn to Christ. But we are called to remain in him.
“And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: ‘The words of the first and the last, who died and came to life.
“‘I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich) and the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.’
“And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: ‘The words of him who has the sharp two-edged sword.
“‘I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. Yet you hold fast my name, and you did not deny my faith even in the days of Antipas my faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality. So also you have some who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans. Therefore repent. If not, I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.’
(Revelation 2:8-17 ESV)
In this passage we have two kinds of challenges. The first is the one mentioned above: that if being violently oppressed, killed, jailed. The correct response to this is to do what Aussie did before Christmas and France is doing now: stand together, and stand firm.
The second is more damaging. It is tolerating error within the leadership and practice of the church. We have free speech to correct each other, and we are told when we find a fellow brother in error to talk to him about it in private, or with a witness, and then before the church if he will not repent.
Belonging to the church requires a set of beliefs. It requires that we behave in certain ways, and do not turn to certain vices — the two common ones are acceding to the public religion of the day — the equivalent of food sacrificed to idols — and sexual immorality. (The reason that there is so much preaching about these is that this is where many of us are tempted).
I think Charlie Hebdo was approaching blasphemy at times. Their anticlericalism was scathing. They had no time for religion. But I can no longer argue with their editor — even virtually — about these things. Some Islamists have taken that opportunity from us. And I would rather have a thousand Charlie Hebdos in my society that a bunch of fanatics killing anyone they do not find politically or religiously correct.
As a Pagan said, Fuck all ideologies that kill people and make children cry. In Christ we are told to be gentle. And to stand firm in our faith.
The Children are weeping today. Let not a misplaced sense of sensitivity, or our cowardice, stop us from calling that which is evil evil. Let us not call evil good, because of tolerance.
