On Wednesday, Jan. 7, two Islamic extremists charged into an editorial meeting in the office of the satirical publishing magazine in France, Charlie Hebdo. The brothers took revenge by killing 11 staff members, because of their recent mockery of the Prophet Muhammad.
Chérif and Saïd Kouachi were taking revenge on the staff for their recent offensive political cartoon on the front page, showing the Prophet Muhammad being killed by an ISIS officer.
This is not Charlie Hebdo’s first time being attacked. In November 2011, the magazine was attacked by a petrol bomb and received numerous threats before the attack via social media.
According to BBC News, the issue cover before the bombing in 2011 showed “Muhammad saying: ‘100 lashes if you are not dying of laughter.’ Inside, there is an editorial, attributed to the Prophet Muhammad, and more cartoons – one showing the Prophet with a clown’s red nose. Depiction of the Prophet is strictly prohibited in Islam.”
After the killings of the 11 Charlie Hebdo staff members, the brothers fled and killed one police officer. The men were finally found shortly after and killed.
The problem is that Charlie Hebdo was creating offensive cartoons about religions but no matter how offensive a cartoon is, no one ever deserves to lose their life.
Even though the Kouachi brothers felt that the disrespectful cartoons of the Prophet was not acceptable, many felt that they at least had the right to do so. Charlie Hebdo is a French satirical magazine and within France, they have freedom of speech, but was this ethically right?
According to New York Times, “…drawing the line between speech that is disgusting and speech that is dangerous is inherently difficult and risky.”
What is the balance between the value of respect for the faith of others and the value of freedom of speech?
This is not a battle just for freedom of speech. Rather it is a time to think about how to balance two important values: respect of those who are different and freedom of speech.
No one condones murder. But no one should condone the disrespect for those who are different.
