A shorter version of that Charlie Hebdo editorial.
We don't like religion. Especially Islam, which you can't criticise and so in effect protects all other religions. We don't have anything against the fictional devout woman and baker we construct except for their religion and what we see as their attempts to impose their values at the expense of ours. But the fact that people will criticise us for criticising them for being religious does help contribute to the atmosphere of fear that allows others to claim they are acting in the name of that religion, even if they have never so much as picked up a Quran.
No, this doesn't make a whole lot of sense. It could be perceived as bigoted, perhaps even is. But it's not racist. It shouldn't be used as a trump to say, well, they had it coming really, and that the point of satire is to punch up, not down. Nothing in the editorial says anything that we as defenders of a secularism that has few admirers anywhere other than France haven't said before, or certainly alluded to.
Did we mention we really don't like religion?
No, this doesn't make a whole lot of sense. It could be perceived as bigoted, perhaps even is. But it's not racist. It shouldn't be used as a trump to say, well, they had it coming really, and that the point of satire is to punch up, not down. Nothing in the editorial says anything that we as defenders of a secularism that has few admirers anywhere other than France haven't said before, or certainly alluded to.
Did we mention we really don't like religion?
Labels: Charlie Hebdo, France, mockery, shorter versions
| Permalink
Post a Comment