April 6, 2018 at 1:53 p.m.
PERSPECTIVE
People of faith and Paris attacks
Minutes later, 12 people were dead, eight of them journalists. Witnesses said they had heard the gunmen shouting in Arabic, "We have avenged the prophet Mohammad," and, "God is great," while calling out the names of the journalists.
On Jan. 9, again in Paris, witnesses reported that, as commandos stormed a kosher supermarket, another terrorist was kneeling for evening prayers after killing four people in a hostage situation tinged with anti-Semitism.
How might people of faith respond to the violence done in God's name in Paris? Paul teaches us in his letter to the Romans (Rom 12:15) that we are to "weep with those who weep."
In Sojourner magazine, Jim Wallis wrote, "False religion always makes the religious grieve, but when it engages in ghastly violence against other human beings who are made in God's image, it should break our hearts as it breaks God's."
Who are the blasphemers: cartoonists skewering religious belief or, Mr. Wallis writes, "terrorists masquerading as religious believers" as they deface the image of God? Several Muslim leaders have said that the damage terrorists like these do to the image of the prophet Mohammed is much greater than any cartoonist could ever do.
"While the tenet of freedom of speech has been invoked, the religious implications...are about how we in the faith community should respond when we are attacked by those who disdain us, disrespect us, distort and even viciously attack us," Mr. Wallis continues.
"Jesus tells us to bless those who persecute us, to return love for hate and good for evil, and even to love our enemies. Loving enemies certainly includes supporting commitment to free speech and defending the right of free speech, even, or especially, for those who offend you.
"Satire is often necessary to expose the powerful or to reveal society's hypocritical and often humorous foibles. The biblical prophets used both satire and humor to challenge the mighty and the selfish, and even Jesus acted and spoke in similar ways that undermined religious hypocrisy and political oppression."
Pope Francis, speaking about the Paris attacks, defended free speech as not only a human right, but a duty to speak one's mind for the sake of the common good. But he said there were limits. "For the sake of the common good" seems to be the defining phrase.
Are there limits on freedom of speech for an open and democratic society? Many people have defended the right of Charlie Hebdo to publish inflammatory cartoons of the prophet Mohammed. Others, though, have noted that in virtually all societies, freedom of speech has its limits, from laws against Holocaust denial to racially-motivated hate speech.
Pope Francis drew a limit on freedom of speech when it insults or ridicules someone's faith. The Vatican and four prominent French imams issued a joint declaration that, while denouncing the Paris attacks, urged the media to treat religions with respect.
Are there limits on freedom of speech? Should religions, beliefs, leaders and institutions be above satire and ridicule? Is nothing sacred? If so, what is sacred?
There are fundamentalist and extremist strains in all religions. Judaism, Christianity and Islam have violent passages in our sacred writings and have had members, with and without official approbation, use violence against other believers and outsiders. But will new calls for restrictions on people of the Islamic faith in France, Europe and the United States defeat terrorism and change the minds of marginalized young people? Will we defeat violence with more wars, more drones and more repression of Islamic peoples?
Nation-states have a responsibility to defend their people, but nation-states are comprised of people of faith. Shouldn't people of faith respond differently than nation-states? Mr. Wallis proposes a new, unified mission by global faith communities, replacing false religion with the powerful expressions and assertions of genuine religion: love, grace, mercy and forgiveness.
As the hymn "Let There Be Peace on Earth" says, "Let it begin with me." Are you living out a false or true Christianity? What are your thoughts on religious extremism? Do you exhibit extremist manners in your own life, using God's name to have power over other people? Does freedom of speech entail responsibility to consider not only what words mean, but how they will be received by the person to whom we are speaking? Are we civil to other people, especially people who have different values and positions from us?
In a recent edition of Charlie Hebdo, the prophet Mohammed was again portrayed by a cartoonist. The image portrays the prophet shedding a tear while holding a "Je suis Charlie" ("I am Charlie") sign under the words, "Tout est pardonné" ("All is forgiven").
What do you think that means?
(Father Mickiewicz is pastor of St. Mary's parish in Oneonta.)[[In-content Ad]]
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