Charlie Hebdo, offensive satire and why ‘Freedom of Speech’ needs more discussion

In a certain way the Muslim community did not help much to safeguard a good impression the Western World would have to have.
At their mosques and Islamic centres they do not seem to do enough for tackling extremism in their and our community.
They should not as such apologise for the acts of a minority. They should proof to the world that those fundamentalists are not following the sacred holy books, the Quran nor the prophet Muhammad and that they really are not liked by the majority of Muslims.

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To remember:

• In wake of the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris > a lot of emotionally driven debate.
• Comment sections across a wide variety of news websites filled with trolls and damning analyses of the Koran, countered by those who insist Islam is still ‘the religion of peace’.
• Muslims fed up with apologising for the acts of a minority
• cloak racist or sexist political satire in relation to minorities
• Is their right to be offended more important than our need to challenge their beliefs and religious figures?
•  It seems that no politician or religion is spared in Charlie Hebdo’s broadbrush mockery – with many citing caricatures of the Pope as an example. To paraphrase this argument, ‘There can be no double standards in satire.’
• satire has been a tool of challenging the establishment since Medieval times
• media critics and journalists persevere in their work.
• we must examine underlying problems
• toxic mixture of Islamic extremism
• need for society to challenge political and social issues,
• responsibility to extend freedom of speech to other areas of politics and social justice
• principles mean nothing if we do not stand by them when it suits us least.

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  Islam stands for freedom of expression, there is no compulsion in the matters of faith, and you simply cannot force anyone to believe against his or her will. God insists the plurality of religion many times in Quran – he says, weather you are a Jew, Christian or other, you need not worry, I will take care of you, as long as you take care of my creation; your fellow beings and environment. I gave you a well-balanced world for you to live enjoy and manage, and if you subscribe to that, I will call you a subscriber, follower, surrenderer and submitter to my will in preserving the well balanced peaceful world. Don’t mess with me and my creation, and you are a tiny insignificant speck in the scheme of things, and I am the most powerful, say God is great (Allahu Akbar). Indeed, Allahu Akbar is a call for humility and not killing.

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