Je n’suis pas Charlie – Defending freedom

Je n’suis pas Charlie – Defending freedom

by | 13 Jan , 2015 | FOCUS, Secularism

It has been good to see a number of articles offering some balance to the mass demonstrations that have taken place in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo killings.  Jeff Fountain from the Schuman Centre here highlights some of the inconsistencies …

“Let me exercise the freedom of expression everyone on the streets says they are defending: Je n’suis pas Charlie! After the mass demonstrations in Paris and other cities across Europe and beyond, I’m left unsettled and confused. What statement exactly were our leaders and the crowds trying to make?”

Read here …  Defending freedom? – The Schuman Centre.

Islamic terrorism and Charlie Hebdo – Is more blasphemy the best response?

Islamic terrorism and Charlie Hebdo – Is more blasphemy the best response?

by | 9 Jan , 2015 | FOCUS, Secularism

Michael Cook (MercatorNet) has written a useful reflection on the latest terrorist attack in France, asking whether the approach advocated by many commentators is the best way.

He quotes novelist Michel Houellebecq, who was featured on this week’s cover of Charlie Hebdo, saying,

Look, the Enlightenment is dead … May it rest in peace. … In itself, it can produce nothing, just emptiness and unhappiness. So yes, I am hostile to Enlightenment philosophy, I need to make that perfectly clear.

via Islamic terrorists mow down staff of Charlie Hebdo.