How Charlie Hebdo Became A Top Terrorist Target
From the January 12, 2015 eNews issue
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Some would say, “Charlie Hebdo” was “asking for it.” They have had a history of holding many groups up for satire. Not only Muslims, but Roman Catholics, homosexuals, left wingers, right-wingers, no one was safe.
It was in recent times though that Islam came increasingly the object of their ridicule.
In February 2006 Charlie Hebdo published a series of 12 cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad which had been featured in the Nordic daily “Jyllands-Posten” the previous year. The Danish publication triggered anti-Danish protests across the Muslim world. It was the start of the story that would ultimately lead to the magazine becoming a prime terrorist target.
Depictions of the prophet are strictly taboo in Islam. The French Council of Muslim Faith (CFCM) and the Grand Mosques of Paris and Lyon had unsuccessfully attempted to sue Charlie Hebdo to prevent publication of the images on the grounds that they were offensive to France’s Muslim community.
Their failure, however, led to much more serious repercussions.
As the debate over the publication of the images intensified in France, a group of 12 prominent writers including Salman Rushdie and Bernard-Henri Levy published an article in Charlie Hebdo speaking out against Islamic “totalitarianism”.
They wrote:
”Like all totalitarian ideologies, Islamism is nurtured by fear and frustration… Islamism is a reactionary ideology that kills equality, freedom and secularism wherever it is present.”
By publicly denouncing Islamism, the magazine became a target of threats forcing some staff to be placed under police protection. But the attempt at intimidation failed. In fact, it had the opposite effect, emboldening the magazine’s staff.
In 2011, the magazine named the Prophet Muhammad as its “editor-in-chief.” The cover once again carried a cartoon depicting him saying, “One Hundred lashes if you do not die of laughter.”
This time, however, the response was not just threats. A day after its publication the offices of the magazine were firebombed and its website hacked. Fortunately, no-one was injured.
Stephane Charbonnier, the magazine’s editor-in-chief, responded as robustly as ever.
He said: “If we can poke fun at everything in France, if we can talk about anything in France apart from Islam or the consequences of Islamism, that is annoying.”
In response he set out to publish the most controversial editions yet. They produced an issue with a cover showing a Muslim man in a wheelchair pushed by an Orthodox Jew under the title “Untouchables 2”, an imaginary sequel to a recently released French film. The pair are saying (rough translation) “You must not mock us!”.
The publication was condemned by the French foreign minister Laurent Fabius as a “provocation”. The French government was so concerned about the possibility of a backlash in Muslim countries, following the response to the 2006 cartoons, that it decided to temporarily close 20 embassies as a precaution.
Yet Charlie Hebdo was not done yet. In 2013 the magazine went further still, publishing what it called a “halal” comic book on the life of Islamic prophet Mohammad. The book was created with the help of a Islamic Franco-Tunisian sociologist and Charbonnier claimed, somewhat implausibly given his experiences, that there was no reason why anyone would take offense.
Even those who have defended the magazine’s right to publish have admitted the articles have been crass. But Charbonnier told Al Jazeera in a 2012 interview, that his argument has always been that free speech must be upheld and cannot be bounded by what will and will not cause offense.
Today, the Charlie Hebdo story took a gruesome turn as two gunmen burst into its offices and shot dead at least 12 people. They shouted “we have avenged the prophet!” according to Sky News.
While Christ teaches that we are to forgive our transgressors seventy seven times (Matthew 18:22), it should not surprise anyone that Islam not only condones violence but actually commands it.
In the Quran, Muslims are told:
Fight and slay the pagans [i.e. infidels] wherever ye find them, and seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem of war.
— Sura 9:5
What are Muslims supposed to do to the people who resist Islam?
Their punishment is — execution, or crucifixion, or the cutting off of hands and feet from the opposite sides, or exile from the land.
— Sura 5:33
The differences between Islam and Christianity are clear and obvious.
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My thoughts:
Over the last few weeks, I'm sure we've heard plenty of outbursts from all perspectives. Some use this to bash against all Muslims, and hateful words can be heard all around -- even out of the mouths of Christians, who are supposedly the light of the world.
Agape. This is the Greek word for "love," used to describe the kind of fatherly, selfless love that God has for us. We are told to love God and love others as ourselves. And no other commandment is greater than these (Mark 12:31).
As Martin Luther King Jr. Day approaches, it's only appropriate to learn from how he led about great, impactful changes by promoting God's love for all, promoting love and peace -- even when opponents fought against his message with brutal hatred and violence!
2 Corinthians 5:20
Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God.
Because God is righteous, sin cannot exist. Hate the sin, not the sinner. So often we just lump the sin and the sinner together and release what we think is our righteous anger. Let me be clear, each one of us is a sinner. And as long as we reside in our fallen body, not one of us can ever have righteous anger. Only God and God alone can express righteous anger because only He is perfectly just and sinless.
What are we taught to do instead? Forgive (Matthew 6:14-15; 18:21-22). LOVE THE SINNER. Help him or her see the love of Christ -- Never push him/her down and rub his/her face in the dirt!
When we proclaim to be followers of Christ, recognize that we represent His name. The world looks at us and will judge Christ based on our representation. Jesus is our God of LOVE -- His love is so great, He wants ALL to be saved and have not one perish (2 Peter 3:9). As we spread the Gospel around the world, be careful that we do not misrepresent Him or taint His Message of Love and Peace.
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