In a climate where Islamist murder, violence and intimidation is cowering many into silence and submission, Charlie Hebdo's insistence on poking fun at Islam on par with all religions and its refusal to back down despite calls for censorship is one that will be remembered when Islamism is in the dustbins of history.French professor Marlière writes in the Guardian that the magazine’s aim to reassert its leftwing secular tradition in this climate is more anti-Islamic than anti-clerical. But anti-Islamism is this era’s anti-clericalism.
He adds that the cartoons are ‘unhelpful’ in a ‘climate of religious and racial prejudice’ but like the Guardian and many a liberal and post-modernist leftist, he misses the point. What is ‘unhelpful’ is Islamism’s murder and mayhem.
Criticising Islam and Islamism is not about prejudice – that is Islamism’s narrative – which has been bought hook, line and sinker by those calling for censorship. In fact, in this day and age, criticism is a historical necessity and legitimate challenge to our era’s inquisition.
Also, what the professor and the Guardian seem to forget is that those most at threat of the Islamist herds are not satirical French publications or even US and French embassies worldwide but the many countless human beings living under Islamism and Sharia law – a lot of them Muslims – who daily face threats, imprisonment and death for their dissent from and criticism – like Saudi Hamza Kashgari, Indonesian Alex Aan, Egyptian Alber Saber and Pakistani Asia Bibi.
When will the professor and the Guardian side with them?
As the most wonderful Salman Rushdie says: we “need to be braver”.
Yes, clearly we do if we are going to stop this barbarism once and for all…
As an aside, of course Charlie Hebdo’s cartoon is different from the despicable and racist Christian Right film, the Innocence of Muslims. But free expression is not just for those we agree with. And let’s not forget a bad film is just a bad film. The real problem that needs to be addressed head on is Islamism and censorship is the wrong response.
Science has taken a man to the edge of space in a balloon and safely freefalled back to earth,
ReplyDeleteReligion has shot a child in the head because she wanted to go to school,
Maryam Namazie needs to stop pandering to jew mainstream mass media and see the genocide inflicted by zionist controlled America and her sycophantic allies, on innocents throughout Islam. Open your eyes and disengage your mindlock to understand that all major wars have the fingerprints of jewish bankers upon them, in the name of profit and the criminal state of Israel.
ReplyDeleteMarty
ReplyDelete'Religion has shot a child in the head because she wanted to go to school'
Another example of jewish media manipulation, bombarding mainstream news.
They dont smother us in images of Palestinian kids being killed every day in the West Bank and Gaza going to school. And they did'nt spend much airtime explaining the smashed skulls of Irish children shot in the head by plastic bullets in their so called 'justice systems'.
'Religion' doesnt shoot a child in the head. The zionist corporate manipulators who expropriate the natural resources of nations, connive to create the conditions to forment hatred amongst peoples. These parasites use religion as a tool of control.
With great respect Marty and as an admirer of your opinions on many topics,just on this one, I would ask you to dissect and scrutinise this 'modern day parable', then join the dots....
so true Marty
ReplyDeleteTruthrevisionist
ReplyDeleteBit OTT. I don't think the Pakis need much help from Israel, though I get what you are saying regarding western colonialism. So much anger in the world. When my grandkids appear on the scene their laughter will be at the cinema or zoo or funfair, not some monument or museum to killing and suffering. Its a way of life and better moved on from.
truthrevisionist "They don,t smother us in images of Palestinian kids being killed in the West Bank and Gazza going to school,and they did,nt spend much airtime explaining the smashed skulls of Irish children shot in the head by plastic bullets in their so called "justice systems" a cara I couldnt agree with you more .religion as Anthony pointed out is nothing more than a viewpoint and has been used throughout the centuries by manipulative and greedy people to murder ,steal what is not rightfully theirs,the saying "if god did not exist a politician would have invented him "is so true except that god does not exist,but rather a useful tool in the arsenal of those who control.be it zionism ,islam or any other belief,when as you rightly say innocent children become their targets then those fuckers are nothing but scum irrespective from whatever quarter they come ....Atheism ..or common sense as its more widely known....
ReplyDeleteAM-
ReplyDeleteIts getting to a stage where we darnt say boo to anybody about anything-
Poor Newton Emerson got the boot from the BBC for calling the stoops a few names on facebook whilst We the people pay the BBC-our employees at the BBC are not doing a good job yet we cant sack them- write and be dammed-or be praised- who fears the written word
Michaelhenry,
ReplyDeletethe SDLP and BBC were both out of order on the Newton Emerson issue. Although SF tried on a more than one occasion to have me stopped from going on the BBC.
AM-
ReplyDeleteFirst i knew that Sinn Fein tried to stop you from being on the BBC-I would have no truck with that if true- every body should have a right to talk / write what they want- who fears the spoken word-
Michaelhenry,
ReplyDeleteunfortunately, SF has long held an aversion to different ideas and has sought to censor people at every opportunity. I know there is a need to display some scepticism towards the claims of former members of any body that they were censored if they did not complain about it while still on the inside but with so many making the claim it cannot be lightly dismissed. In prison I even got a letter from P O'Neill telling me that we were not allowed to write to the Irish News to complain about SF. How precious they were about themselves
mackers
ReplyDeleteits the hypocrisy of SF that is galling. There's nothing wrong with them dooing what they are doing politically, its the posong as republicans and their support and memberships inability to think for themselves or even countenance debate or a different viewpoint in the nationalist community. Unionism is another matter, the DUP put them in their box.
Larry a cara its called pissing down peoples backs and telling them its raining,and what worse lots of the eejits believe it.
ReplyDeleteLarry,
ReplyDeletethey are not doing anything that remotely resembles republicanism. They try to cover the tracks of their defeat with the language of republicanism and scream peace in your face so loudly that nobody else can be heard. brings to mind something about the type of noise empty vessels make.
marty
ReplyDeleteit might suit the 'eejits'to believe it. If there were 5 rats standing around sandy lynch, how many were wedged into SF? Maybe things had reached tipping point and there were less off the payroll than on it. The eejits may all understand each other very well and be happy the GFA covered their collective ass.
Good point Larry and around the 90,s any tout killed could be described as having been killed by friendly fire rather than murdered by terrorists,agree there must have been a massive collective sigh of relief when the head honchos of Quisling $inn £ein signed the surrender documents,well the public ones anyway the other surrender was long before that.
ReplyDeleteAway of thread I know but I,ve just been hit by a premonition ....
ReplyDeleteQuisling $inn £eins Decciebroy Kearney is to make a keynote address at Westminster (wonder whos paying for the fish n chips)on Wednesday night, apart from apologising as usual my premonition says that Decciebroy will announce that Quisling $inn £ein will be dropping their abstentionist policy in relation to taking their seats at Westminster,and so the final piece of republican silverware will be handed over when they enter the mother of all fuckups Westminster.meanwhile over on the sick counties Spikebroy and Bangerbroy will attend the memorial event in honour of John Mc Michael,Bangers said"I welcome the opportunity to speak directly to loyalists" it makes a change because he worked so hard for them indirectly.
Marty,
ReplyDeleteinteresting prediction about Declan. They will drop their abstentionist policy at some point. We have long known that. They will tell you they are merely doing it to privatise their way to socialism from the revolutionary upper house.
Also they will spin it that turning up for a debate in honour of a dead UFF chief is merely an advertisement for M&M chocolates: Morrison & Murray. Morrison said it is good to exchange ideas. Pity he hadn't exchanged some with the hunger strikers rather than slipping them the black hand.
He is a knife pointed at the heart of republicanism.
Marty,
ReplyDeleteIt is not religion that is shooting children in the head.
Religion is a belief system, an ideology, it is fundamentalism that has its finger on the trigger and it usually goes hand in glove with misogynism-which is ultra rampant here.
Last week we witnessed the absolutely disgraceful carry on in relation to Marie Stopes.
The drone Poots was not the only right wing fundametalist voice, Mc Guinness the worst type of reformer added his.
Religion rarely operates devoid of men.
Everyone quakes and rightly so when someone shoots a little girl in the head.
Less quaking when a women is punished for committing a crime against religion or men.
M&M chocolates! how sweet of you Anthony.my advice to any loyalist would be,Beware geeks bearing gifts!
ReplyDeleteI think Quisling $inn £ein,s Decciebroy will put forward an argument something along the lines that the five Quisling $inn £ein mps could be king makers come the next parliament and therefore could be influential in determining the government policies,maybe even have a seat at the cabinet table, hence be in a stronger position to argue against austerity cuts,I think this is how they will sell this climbdown from principal,its for the people that we do these things,and so the final chapter will close on the prm of the past and hello to Finchleys Finest,
It takes a crazy theory or opinion to create a crazy fundamentalist who will then not hesitate to murder children all in the name of Yahweh,Allah or Christ hon remove the unsubstantiated theory lose the fundamentialism,as for your rightful description of the disgraceful carry on over the Marie Stopes clinic opening I totally agree a cara,
ReplyDeletemackers
ReplyDelete'Pity he hadn't exchanged some with the hunger strikers rather than slipping them the black hand'.
Reminds me of blind Pew and the 'black-spot' in Treasure Island'.
Wrong people were getting the 'black-spot' here.
Larry,
ReplyDeletethanks for the correction. It was the black spot. I was thinking of him stumbling along ballot box in one hand and a white stick in the other pushing the black spot into the hands of the hunger strikers
Marty,
ReplyDelete'Lose the unsubstantiated theory and lose the fundamentalism'
It does not quite work like that because fundamentalism, political, religious or philosophical has nothing to do with the theory, belief or philosophy, it is driven by fervour and governed by the principal that they alone are right.
Fionnuala
ReplyDelete'It does not quite work like that because fundamentalism, political, religious or philosophical has nothing to do with the theory, belief or philosophy, it is driven by fervour and governed by the principal that they alone are right.'
Or pure unashamed self interest groups. 'Good living for a living'.
Like the Orange Order. As Parnell described northern unionists,
'Those awful people who barter on religion'.
The one thing McGuinness said that I agreed with and sadly there was no more of was when he stated the DUP were N. Ireland's Taliban. So true.
Nuala I come at it from the rigid adherence to a religious point of view,as religions one and all are really nothing more than unsubstantiated myths,remove the primary cause lessen the need for nutters to kill in the name of whatever,it wont stop psychopaths but at least it would remove their feeble excuse that they killed for their lord whatever name it uses.
ReplyDeleteMarty,
ReplyDeleteThe point I was trying to make is, religion is not the primary factor here, myths or fairy stories are not even in the debate.
Patriachy governs this one.
The reason Malala Yousafzai was denied a education was because she was a girl.
The religion of the person who pulled the trigger in all probability is not even a factor.
Science argued for many years long, before the Taliban cottoned on, that women had no right to education, like black people apparently we had smaller brains?
There is no doubt religion will come in the back door to kick a woman when she is down, but patriachy is by far and away the dominant factor here.
Larry,
A bit rich coming from (pun intended )Mc Guinness?
Hardly a great reformer even in barrel scraping terms.
'The real problem here that needs to be addressed head on is Islamism'
ReplyDeleteI think the real problem here is Islamaphobia.
Well said, truthrevisionist.
Michael Henry; if there ever comes a day when you have an independent thought & say it aloud or write it down you will feel the wrath of your party, make no mistake.
ReplyDeleteEverybody should have the right to say what they like.. So long as it's toeing the party line.
Fionnuala, what a great post.
ReplyDeleteAlmost if not all religions are institutionally biased towards male supremacy. By males, for males & wherever religion & it's patriarchs rule, women will always be in danger. But it's obviously easier to blame religion on all that is wrong rather than scratch the surface & see who's really pulling the strings.
While what you say about patriachy is true Nuala the young girl was shot because she wanted education,those who shot her follow strict islamic laws,it matters not a jot to me whether she was shot by a man or woman but that she was shot and by someone following strict religious teachings, that would be the argument that those who carried out this vile deed would put forward ,their argument not mine and again whether their scriptures were written by men or women means didly squat to me because be it christianity hinduism or lslam judaism. anything that gives these oppressors a scintilla of rectitude is pure shit in my opinion,my argument is that religion ,all religions have given evil people the opportunity to practice evil,you seemed somewhat fixated on male wickedness maybe you should read about the bitch of Belsen Irma Gresse or Elizabeth Bathory the blood queen no sex has a monopoly on evil but again I say religion has provided them with an outlet,the magdalene sisters comes to mind here.
ReplyDeleteBelfastbookworm a cara I couldnt give a flying fuck about any religion everyone of them is nonsense.
ReplyDeletemarty
ReplyDeletestop being a bitch lol
Larry I bet the catholic church think Saville is a godsend
ReplyDeleteMarty, me neither. But I care enough to recognise when religion isn't the cause of shooting a child in the head - despite what the masses would have us believe.
ReplyDeletemarty
ReplyDeletehe's being canonised next week.
Belfast Bookworm a cara then give me a reason why a child would be shot in the head other than it was just her sex.those who oppress women do so (I think in the mistaken belief) that they are doing their gods work and if truth be told quite a few of their women folk seem to support them and not out of fear either.
ReplyDeleteLarry,Twilight-Film about guys who have been around for hundreds of years,but still go for teenage girls.they should have got Jimmy Saville to star in it..
ReplyDeleteMarty I believe that violent acts perpetrated against women and girls is to assert power & control, teach them to 'know their place' and serve as lessons to others to not step out of line. I believe it is so in this case.
ReplyDeleteIslam teaches generosity, kindness & goodwill & it has been twisted & corrupted to allow people hungry for power & control to do what they want in the name of a
god. Many women of course believe this as they've been fed it for generations & see it as the way it should be. They've not had the education or been given the opportunity to explore anything different.
Many Muslim women - and indeed men I've met are feminists though. Proper practicing Muslims who value & respect their faith and human life regardless of gender and equally importantly, recognise the difference between religion and politics.
Organised religion and patriarchy seem inseparable.
ReplyDeleteBelfast bookworm I think we are nearly singing from the same music sheet here a cara.my argument is not the religion as such but that it is an excuse (however mistakenly),I believe in removing all excuses however feeble to expose wrong as wrong,
ReplyDeleteMick spot on as usual a cara the exceptions that I can think of are christian science,foursquare, I think religions founded by women...again I couldnt give a fuck if any or all religions were founded by women they still would be bullshit...apart from FSM
Anthony I'd agree with that to a degree. It wasn't always so & the role of women in organised religions was of far greater importance in ancient times, before they were written out of history by men in their quest for control.
ReplyDeleteBut for those Muslims I know, they believe in their god & live by teachings of the Koran, but they also know the history of their religion & how its evolved & remain fixed on it's ethos so tend not to get blinded by the anti woman nonsense that is spewed by so many today. They refuse to allow their faith to be manipulated for political gain. ITs certainly not for me but I admire their faith &
their absolute belief in their god.
Anthony I apologise I somehow attributed the comment "organised religion and patriarchy seem inseparable"to Mick hall was thinking about him a cara ,
ReplyDeleteMarty,
ReplyDeletePatriachy pre-dates religion. True making man in the image of God did not help women, but the woman hatred was already up and running.
What about China and India? 'One child policies' the former overt the latter covert.
Thousands of girl children forciably aborted each year or else left in hospital wards or dumped in rubbish dumps to die.
This is not governed by religion it is pure patriachy and it is the thinking behind the pulling of that trigger.
It suits these days to put everything at the door of Islam.
If religion was a factor here it was not the primary one.
Nuala I,m not so sure that patriachy pre dates religion,my memory tells me that some of the earliest artificats found were mother stones ,early models of pregnant women, which I believe gave women a status well above mere servants in fact the family units revolved around the mother the coming of religion seems to have changed this,and it has given thugs an excuse ever since thats my take on it kid sin é
ReplyDeleteBelfast Bookworm,
ReplyDeletereligion is like other ideologies and insofar as they kill, religion may be said to kill too. If we look at the AIDS problem in Africa I think the case can be made that the Catholic religion is responsible for killing many people. I don't think it is possible to divorce a belief system from the practices and rituals that go with it or the institutions it expresses itself through. I guess many people think communism killed people while others will say it was the Communist Party. I don't feel the distinction works very well.
Nuala I,m not so sure that patriachy pre dates religion,my memory tells me that some of the earliest artificats found were mother stones ,early models of pregnant women, which I believe gave women a status well above mere servants in fact the family units revolved around the mother the coming of religion seems to have changed this,and it has given thugs an excuse ever since thats my take on it kid sin é
ReplyDeleteAnthony, I should've made the distinction between organised religion and faith here. I agree that organised religion is often if not always corrupt whereas true faith, a belief in some sort of greater being can be good and clean and free from evil.
ReplyDeleteI think in the case of AIDS in Africa it was certain teachings of the church and how the powers that be twisted and corruptted to suit their own agenda - not the religion itself.
Marty,
ReplyDeleteThere is miles and miles of years between the two.
Patriarchy can be traced back to 7000BC long before religion.
Yes women did enjoy status and there is clear evidence of matriarchy in certain socities, even if it was short lived.
However, patriachy is the most ingrained and pervasive of all ideologies.
While patriachy and religion may compliment each other, the former is the biggy.
Mackers,
Patriachy and organised religion might be inseperable.
But it is equally inseperable with atheism.
It is woven into the tapestry of all societies and it governs and dictates everything.
It was quite brave what Malala done, a very extraordinary young woman.
But what of the young women shot and bombed by the Brits and Americans?
Fuck me Nuala are you saying the yanks have bombs and bullets that can discriminate between the sexes,and theres me thinking they just thought any old A-rab will do do..
ReplyDeleteWell, is there any truth in the suggestion that domestic stress and divorce rates were a fraction of todays levels before washing machines, dishwashers and tapped water were the 'norm'? idle hands and minds....
ReplyDeleteNuala Maryam Namazie appears to agree with me re the shooting of this wee girl. check out her post No One Is Safe...
ReplyDeleteA.ps Nuala I think the Stoneage was around 600.000 years ago and little is known about the structures around family life other than through artifacts such as flint tools and scratchings on bones some of the earliest stone figures were of pregnant women giving rise to the theory that the woman was the central spoke in family life.this was long before any god was thought up.
ReplyDeleteMarty it is widely believed that society during the stoneage was egalitarian. Gender differences & biases and the spread of patriarchy are not thought to have taken hold of society until about 4000 years BC, thousands of years before religion and it was through changes and progress in labour and advances in agriculture and fishing that it occurred.
ReplyDeleteFionnuala is right. Patriarchy came first.
Belfast bookworm it was definitely matriarchal,my Da said so and he should know because my ma said he was a neanderthal...
ReplyDeleteMarty; that's it settled then.
ReplyDeleteI retract all my earlier statements.
Marty,
ReplyDeleteAgain you have taken me up wrong!
They don't discriminate, I was pointing out, clearly I thought, that the West was oozing sympathy and rightly so for the young woman shot by the Taliban.
They have less sympathy for the young people who's heads they have put bullets in.
Science claims to have formed a very clear pattern of early societies and they were patriarchal, granted the divisions would had been based on biological factors then, but gender roles along patriarchal lines were identified.
if they Did Nuala they would have to charge Bush and B liar with war crimes and that aint gonna happen anytime soon hon.
ReplyDeleteNuala,
ReplyDeleteI think religion has been around from time immemorial. People facing difficulty with the elements began to pray to them. Patriarchy is probably as old. I don’t know the stats but it would appear that way to me.
Nuala,
ReplyDeletePatriachy and organised religion might be inseparable. But it is equally inseparable with atheism.
Atheism hardly amounts to a belief system; simply a disbelief in god. There is no global system of atheism that promotes the second class status of women that is remotely comparable to organised religion.
I have no doubt that there are many atheists who are patriarchal.
But what of the young women shot and bombed by the Brits and Americans?
It is like the old ethnocentric story of news reporting – one British civilian injured in earthquake; 3000 Africans dead.
Belfast Bookworm has left a new comment on your post "Bravo Charlie Hebdo":
ReplyDeleteFaith might be alright if left alone but religion for the most part is the organisation of faith. And for that reason religion causes many problems. It can’t let faith alone. I always like Stephen Weinberg on the matter when he says that with or without religion good people will do good things and bad people will do bad things but to get good people to do bad things it takes religion. This is why I think it is the Catholic religion that causes much of the AIDS problem in Africa. A simple belief in god could never cause that problem, religion as an institution could.
I never admire faith (the abandonment of reason) and an absolute belief in god. There are lots of opinions I don’t admire but can live with them so long as they are not imposed on me. People should be free to practice their religion but not on anyone else.
Mackers,
ReplyDeletePatriarchy was well cemented in before religion.
Patriachy does not need religion it floursihes quite well where religion cannot.
Nuala
ReplyDeletePatriarchy was well cemented in before religion.
I don't really understand how this can be. If religion was there from the very start of human existence how can patriarchy have preceded it? I don't know of an era in human history where religion did not exist. If patriarchy came first did it in turn create religion? It certainly suited patriarchy.
Patriachy does not need religion it floursihes quite well where religion cannot.
That would seem self evident. But I think the discussion here is that religion in general treats women as inferior.
Patriarchy was well cemented in before religion.
ReplyDeleteAfter Eve fucked-up the garden of Eden something needed done.
Larry,
ReplyDeletebut she believed in god first and worshipped him. Read your bible!
Nuala be it either Patriarchy or Matriarchy,neither has a monopoly on evil when holding the reins of power.Maggie Thatcher claims to be a devout christian and had no qualms about murdering those conscripts on the Belgrano,Tony B Liar is now a devout catholic he is a war criminal and has made millions out of it. drop the fixation on Patriarchy your beginning to sound like those from the womens center .lets work for a totally egalitarian society free from the malignant influences of priests or imams,
ReplyDeletemackers
ReplyDeleteGod's idea was ok... the bible is full of evil women screwing up good-things. (excuse the pun)
They just do scheming on auto-pilot.
Larry,
ReplyDeletestop trying to bring the house down around our ears!
Mackers,
ReplyDeleteAccording to science there is evidence of patriachy long before religion a few thousand years actually!
I know the discussion is about religion, but I think the evidence points to patriachy as more dominant factor.
Marty,
If I am fixated on anything it is reality.
Patriarchy is the biggest factor in this scenario and it is not the exclusive territory of the religious.
I only ever met two men in my life who I would say were totally detached from patriarchal thinking one was my Da the other was Brendan Hughes.
mackers
ReplyDeletejust trying to do my bit for domestic bliss.
Nuala,
ReplyDeletewhat science? I have no idea but it seems strange that if religion was there from the beginning (and I don't know how it could not be given the circumstances people faced)it could be preceded by something else. Is there disputes within that science, other scientific opinions? Anthropologists might have something to say on it all but I haven't looked at it at all closely.
Mackers,
ReplyDeletePatriarchy was found in pre-historic hunter gather socities.
How it is recorded visually apart from anything else is a clue.
How are Caveman portrayed, Stoneage men dragging women along.
Aristotle who I think pre-dated organised religion preached full-blown patriachy.
Nuala,
ReplyDeleteat the same time we have this statement whcih I found on the web about two minutes ago!
Like most behaviors that are found in societies throughout the world, religion must have been present in the ancestral human population before the dispersal from Africa 50,000 years ago.
So, I just don't know. For every piece of evidence to be found on the web there will be something to contradict it.
It just seems to me that no matter what came first religion is very patriarchal and consciously so.
Mackers,
ReplyDeleteYou took the words out of my mouth, even stuff I have here is contradictory.
I was dreading getting into one of those long-winded debates with you, dont have the stamina, leave that to the capable Simon or John McGirr.
I was never letting religion of the hook, but I never letting go of the ubiquitous tenets of patriachy, I have seen and heard too much of it in life and I have seen and heard when religion was not even in the room.
Nuala,
ReplyDeleteI know. They can be draining.
A muslim at work said he had the whole Koran on DVD I thought it would be interesting to check it out so I asked him to burn me a copy ..thats when it all kicked of.
ReplyDeleteMarty; do you write your own material? :-)
ReplyDelete