One year ago this week, Islamic terrorists attacked the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, killing 12, including editor-in-chief Stéphanie Carbonnier, known by his pen name Charb. But his words live on. On Tuesday, Charb’s “Open Letter: On Blasphemy, Islamophobia and the True Enemies of Free Expression” (Little, Brown and Company) hits bookshelves, with a spirited defense on the right to mock. A taste:
If tomorrow some terrorist claiming to be a Buddhist wreaks havoc on the planet, we will be asked above all not to portray instigators of such violence for fear of stirring up Buddhists the world over.
And if the next day a vegetarian terrorist threatens to kill anyone who dares assert that our taste buds delight in meat, we will be required to respect the carrot just as we are required to respect the brotherhood of prophets of the three monotheistic religions.
…Eminent, terrorized intellectuals, moralizing old clowns and half-witted journalists have, in all earnestness, questioned whether it was wise to publish the cartoons of Muhammad “in the current environment.”
The censors no longer want anything to do with this whore called free expression. No discussion whatsoever! Self-censorship has become a major art form in France.
So long as the biggest jerk in the Taliban is unable to understand my art, I refuse to express myself — is that it?
To suggest that only the imams and faithful are permitted to mention the Koran, the prophet or God without lapsing into Islamophobia is to play right into the hands of the most radical Islamists. And in giving credence only to the voices of the extremists, we are doing nothing but creating hatred for Islam.