Cartoonists Cowed; at least on Reuters.com

Following the terrorist attack on Charlie Hebdo in Paris, Reuters is reporting that many cartoonists are publishing cartoons with the hashtag #jesuischarlie; I am Charlie in French.  But the cartoons that they are publishing are anything but similar to the ones published in Charlie Hebdo that resulted in the attack.

Most of the ones published by Reuters feature some variation on the theme that the “pen is mightier than the sword” or the rifle, in this case.  This is the cowards way out.  If these cartoonists had any real courage, they would publish a cartoon that shows the Prophet Mohammad with blood on his hands.  That they do not bodes ill for Western civilization.  It shows that Islamics can censor western media at the point of a gun or bomb.  It also shows the way for any other group that wants to impose their beliefs on others by force.    Simply declare that what you think is unassailable, and that attempts at ridicule will be met with force.  Most countries already do this when it comes to their current leader or the preferred ideology that is in power. 

It is only in Western civilization that the concept of free speech has found a community with enough people willing to defend it.  Without defenders, it is quickly lost. 

Speech that does not offend, does not need to be protected.   As the famous quote goes, any one is free to shout the praises of those favored and in power.

A quick Google search for “Charlie hebdo je suise pictures” came up with numerous images.  Of those that I could determine were cartoons that dealt with the mass murder at Charlie Hebdo, about 53 had relatively inoffensive images, and two might be said to be offensive to Islam.  I do not count cartoons that claim that the pen is mightier than the sword to be offensive to Islam.  No one has had a fatwa leveled at them for such a cartoon… yet.

For all the brave talk of “Je suise Charlie”, let us see cartoonists show some real courage.   Let us see more cartoons lampooning Mohammad.  If we do not, we will only encourage those who claim the power to tell us what may be said and what may not, and ultimately, what may be thought and what may not.

Courage might be easier to come by if the society allowed access to effective weapons for self defense.  Permits to carry defensive guns are almost impossible to obtain in France; the police assigned to protect Charlie Hebdo did not seem to have a pistol between them.   This at a site which had been repeatedly threatened with death, and which had been previously bombed.  I doubt if the creators of the 53 cartoons found on Google, (mostly French) have even a shotgun among them, let alone a pistol.  Perhaps I would be surprised.  Millions of firearms floated through France during WWII, and many were squirreled away in attics and basements.

Perhaps the image of a French police officer, unarmed and begging for his life on the streets of Paris, only to be summarily executed by Jihadists, will put some spine into the politically correct French government.   At least the French were willing to call the attack terrorism.  The first step in solving a problem is to admit that you have a problem.

©2014 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
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