Charlie Hebdo

Nice way to start the New Year! Three Islamic terrorists decided that the French satirical newspaper, Charlie Hebdo, insulted the prophet and Muslims one too many times. They were so upset by cartoons, of all things, that they killed 12 people and wounded 11 others. Can’t they take a joke?

This is is another example of this “respect my religion” thing. You see it everywhere. Christians get upset if you mock the Pope, Jesus or anything in their mythical world. Muslims can’t seem to handle any comment or picture that they “decide” is an insult to their prophet or their religion. It doesn’t matter if someone from another country says or draws something they don’t like. They go into a hissy-fit and their reaction is generally violent. So much for Islam being a religion of peace.

William Saletan at Slate.com wrote recently - “The fantasy of these terrorists, like those who previously bombed Charlie Hebdo and attacked a Danish cartoonist, is that they’re honoring Islam. But they aren’t. They’re disgracing it. When you murder people in the name of Allah, you fulfill the most pernicious of all Muslim stereotypes. You do so not in ink, but in blood. Your crime sows fear of all Muslims. You don’t avenge the caricature. You are the caricature.”

There is something to the fact that a drawing can illicit such a barbaric response. That says the believers are on shaky ground. It’s akin the the southern Bible believer who says “the Bible said it, I believe it, and that’s that.”  They don’t want their little mind filled with reason or, God forbid, doubt.

When terrorists like the ones in France kill people, what do they accomplish? They showed how petty and small minded they are and how weak their belief in their religion is. Their only response to these “insults” is to gun down offenders. Again, what is accomplished? Do they win over anyone by doing this?

I agree with many who say that we shouldn’t give religion a pass and we shouldn’t insult or ridicule religion. Calling out religion for what it is, a barbaric and power hungry system of thought policing, needs ridicule to expose it’s insanity. In the U.S. where Christian politicians, who do not disguise their religious beliefs in the public arena, get upset if they are challenged about their religious views. Tough! If they use their religion as the basis of their public policies, we have the right and duty to speak out.

On a recent Bill Maher TV episode, Carly Fiorina was a guest on the panel. When the topic came around to terrorists and Bill Maher indicated that all religions have their terrorists, Carly tried to say that yes Muslims are terrorists but Christians are nice people who wouldn’t do things like that. See my previous post, Carly!

There are cracks in religion all over the world. The response you see is a knee jerk attempt to shore up religion’s medieval belief system however they can. In doing so they are showing how insane they are. Instead of winning converts they are driving people, especially the young, away. I hope that religions as a whole are going through their death throes. To quote John Lennon – Imagine no religion!