Je Suis Charlie

Liberté, Égalité et Fraternité

 

I feel as if my Winter holiday has been plagued by attacks of public speech. First was the Sony's The Interview. Was it right for the government to force Sony to not show the film? I'm not sure. In my opinion, there was no winning plan in this situation. Sony didn't release the movie- the public was outraged. But what if Sony had released the movie and there was an attack on the American public? We will truly never know what was the best solution for this situation. We can only live with the path that was taken.

 

However in the case of the Charlie Hebdo shootings, I have so many emotions going through my heart. Just like the United States, France has prided itself on freedom of speech, religion, and press. I will admit, I had never heard of Charlie Hebdo before this week. [Which I find strange since I have been taking French classes since I was 13] I have read a few of his publications that I could find online. I admit that I was offended at what I read, he wrote things about my own religion that I don't agree with, things that I believe are rude or false stereotypes of religious men and women. But he also had cartoons of popular public figures that I found humorous. The bottom line is this was Charlie Hebdo opinion and he published it. He had the right do to so.

 

One may say that these terrorist groups are just expressing their right to public speech and opinion. I think that's fine. They have a right to an opinion. I understand that there are groups that hate Westerners, Christians, Jews and Americans. I myself sometimes find that I am judging other groups for their opinions- you know that's my right and private business- but I don't cause fear, turn violent, or kill the innocent. That's the difference between Charlie Hebdo and his killers.

 

 

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