YOURSAY ‘There will be no end to what one would define as offensive.’
'Charlie Hebdo provokes, but wrong to kill'
David Dass: Our response should be clear. We should condemn the Charlie Hebdo killings. We should not suggest that publication of cartoons lampooning prophets of a particular faith would provoke followers of that faith to kill the people behind the newspaper.
Murder is murder. That same magazine has been lampooning the Pope, Jesus Christ and Mary, and the Church has responded by suing the newspaper.
Catholics, however outraged, did not try to kill the journalists. That does not mean that their faith is weak. The Catholic faith does not permit killing in such circumstances, God will survive these cartoons.
We should not tolerate or condone vigilante justice. We should remember the Kerling incident in 1978. The temple guards who defended the temple from zealots who were bent on desecrating the temple and the deities within, were prosecuted.
We should also remember the cow’s head incident in 2009 - an incident which caused so much anger among Hindus who consider the cow sacred. No Hindu reacted with violence.
And the incident where hosts sacred to Catholics were desecrated by Muslim journalists masquerading as Catholics. Catholics were appalled by such outrageous and insensitive acts and stunned by the lack of government action.
We should not have double standards. For the French, freedom of expression is an important part of their democratic tradition. There are five million Muslims living in France. These French Muslims must respect the values and traditions of the country they have chosen to live in.
Our leaders should not make statements that are ambiguous and which could be interpreted as justifying the killings. They would not be helping the French Muslims who must now cope with the aftermath of these killings.
Anonymous_3f4b: Former PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad always has an issue with the West. Maybe it is because the West did not give him the recognition which he craves and he feels slighted.
By saying what he said, Mahathir is giving tacit approval to the gruesome killings by Islamic terrorists just because they feel the religion have been condemned and ridiculed.
If that is the way they think, where is the tolerance and understanding as every religion is also subjected to insult and ridicule.
CQ Muar: "Insulting prophets and others should not be done... we should respect the faith of others," said Mahathir.
If what you commented over the Paris killing was retaliation of Muslims being provoked, then what have you to advise the persecutions of Christians by those "religious" bigots and extremists in Malaysia?
Are you implying Christians in this country resorting to such measures and brutal acts (should it occur) against those Muslim fanatics is also as a result of provocation initiated by them?
For a seasoned politician and being the longest-serving former prime minister, such justification is off the mark.
Rightly, you should caution those "champion" of religion and race like Perkasa, Isma and the like to cease such insults and provocations against other faith in this country, instead of indulging in subtle coercion.
CYLee: Somehow I have to agree with Dr M. This time, I think Charlie Hebdo has pushed its luck too far. Let this be a lesson to other journalists and their publication, Malaysiakini included.
Versey: CYLee, are you threatening Malaysiakini ? Please tell and give examples, in what way Malaysiakini has done anything as close to "provocation" as Charlie Hebdo did to Christianity, Islam or any other religions, establishment and politicians?
Is reporting facts and the truth counted as "provocative" by your standard?
Eric W Vivanto: Charlie Hebdo makes fun of other religions too. You can disagree and voice displeasure with what the magazine does, or you can just ignore it.
In short, one can just simply choose not to be provoked by it. If one's faith in one's religion is strong enough, nothing that the magazine does can reduce or destroy what one believes in.
Myop101: With this kind of thinking, I presume it is also the fault of the women when they get raped for dressing provocatively? Also, it is also the fault of business owners when they get robbed because they happen to open their doors to do business?
There will be no end to what one would define as offensive, but one can exercise self-control when reacting to these materials deemed offensive.
Gggg: What a contrast between Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim and Mahathir:
Anwar said: “I condemn the horrific murders that were carried out at the offices of Charlie Hebdo in Paris yesterday. Whatever might have been the motivation, the brutal killing of the 10 journalists and two police officers can never be condoned.
“My sympathies and condolences go to the families of the victims. All right-minded people regardless of religion or creed must categorically reject such acts of barbarism.
“Once again, the savage acts of a few in the name of Islam have tainted the rest of the Muslim communities. In this regard, I call on Muslim leaders and ulama in particular throughout the world to denounce these acts of terrorism in the strongest terms possible.
“We must continuously battle not only the perpetrators of violence but also racial and religious intolerance and bigotry.”
No justification for Charlie Hebdo massacre
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