You might think this is a fine thing. You might think that Charlie Hebdo and others who drew Muhammad were being needlessly provocative, and showing a lack of respect for the sensibilities of ordinary Muslims who will never harm anyone. You might think that there is a difference between free speech and hate speech, and that drawing Muhammad must be hate speech since it drives some Muslims into a murderous rage.
But this isn’t really about drawing Muhammad at all. No one would have cared about drawing Muhammad, and few people, if any, would have cared to do so, were it not for the fact that Islamic jihadists have put the free world on notice: if you draw Muhammad, we will kill you. That ultimatum makes the choice clear: either we submit to violent intimidation, and show the Islamic jihadists that they can get us to do what they want by means of threats and murder, or we stand up and say, No, we are not going to submit, we are going to stand for the principle of free expression that is an indispensable aspect of a free society.
Charlie Hebdo stood for free speech. Now it is surrendering, and proving yet again that violence and terrorism works — a lesson which will only ensure that we will see more violence and terrorism.
“No more Muhammad comics, says Charlie Hebdo editor Sourisseau,” DW, July 20, 2015 (thanks to Lookmann):
During an interview with the Hamburg-based news magazine “Stern,” editor of the French weekly “Charlie Hebdo” said he would no longer draw comics of the Muslim prophet Muhammad.
“We have drawn Muhammad to defend the principle that one can draw whatever they want. It is a bit strange though: we are expected to exercise a freedom of expression that no one dares to,” Sourisseau told “Stern.”
The editor said that the magazine had done what it set out to do.
“We’ve done our job. We have defended the right to caricature,” Sourisseau said.
“We still believe that we have the right to criticize all religions,” the editor said, adding that he did not want to believe that the magazine “was possessed by Islam.”
“The mistakes you could blame Islam for can be found in other religions,” Sourisseau noted.
But you have to look very, very hard, unless you’re a thoroughly blinkered and compromised Leftist.