Nothing is sacred except satire

Is there an undisputed “right to offend”?

Of course any sane person finds the gunning down of cartoonists in an office in Paris sickening and indefensible. But the response since then has been contentious. One of the staff at Charlie Hebdo commented that the majority of people brandishing “je suis Charlie” signage never buy the magazine and many had never even heard of it until January 7. So how much of what we are seeing is a sincere but largely emotive reaction? Is it the case that as usual we find people running to the opposite side of whatever boat we happen to be on, and suddenly “free speech” is front and centre stage?

Here are two statements we have seen quoted of late.

“Speech should always be free and protected, no matter who finds it offensive”

This is a fine principle which I would like to agree with, but it simply doesn’t work. It can’t work. If we follow this line, then blatant racist abuse, anti-gay rhetoric for the sake of it, or simply foul language in a family restaurant is all OK. All one needs to say is “well it’s my right to free speech”. Free speech can quickly become hate speech. That is why we have laws protecting racial minorities and that is why we feel within our rights to ask people to moderate their language when children are nearby. 

The difficult thing is to judge where that line is between protecting free speech and protecting the right of individuals not to have their identity violated. And for many people of faith, their faith is an integral part of their identity. Perhaps this is something that secularists have not understood – for example for me, being a Christian has become a greater part of “who I am” than my Asian ethnic identity.

“Religion must be subject to ridicule”

I have sympathy with this statement. After all if we cannot laugh at ourselves then we have lost something of the essence of being human. Using humour creatively to poke fun at ourselves can be therapeutic, liberating, and we need to guard against a gradual slide into “taking offence at anything I don’t like”.

But this is where we stray into the incredibly subjective arena of “….what is funny?”

Eg Charlie Hebdo published cartoons of Mary giving birth to the infant Jesus with great accompanying hilarity. To me it is poor taste and doesn’t have any point to it. However I realise that to people who believe the nativity to be a myth, it acts as some kind of unmasking, confirming their view that the Christmas story is to be mocked.

It is possible to use humour creatively, and in a way that is not wilfully offensive — and I think you know when you are likely to cause great offence or provocation. As with free speech there has to be limits and you need good judgement to discern these. An example of Charlie Hebdo using humour poignantly and movingly was the weeping prophet on their last magazine cover with the caption “tout est pardonne”. Unfortunately there are many examples where they are less intelligent – just google “Charlie Hebdo Mohammed cartoons”.

Closing Comments

There is a constant rise in secularisation greatly accelerated by 9/11 and its aftermath. In the subsequent 10+ years a proper intolerance to terrorism became an intolerance to religious-extremists which then became “all religions are extreme”. As Christians we have no association with extreme Islamists but we are now tarred with the same brush. Hence we see in the news, disputes over the wearing of a crucifix, the removal of RE from schools, the impropriety of a health-worker praying for a patient, the dilution of Sunday as a different day etc.

One effect of all this is that a nation can completely lose its identity as it continually secularises itself, resulting eventually in a clinical, sterile culture where Christmas trees are not displayed and Christmas itself has become Winterfest. Hopefully the potential loss of national culture is becoming clear even to ardent secularists.

Secondly, if there is any good to come from the sudden worldwide interest in Mohammed cartoons perhaps some fanatical Islamists will see that the best way to deal with offence is with your pen or keyboard …. and just don’t give it your time. If there is more bad news to come it is that the National Front in France will undoubtedly be gaining ground.

Lastly, and as Christians, we need to make sure we don’t spend our time looking for things to be offended about. Make the point, register your opinion and move on. There are too many injustices in the world, too many people still in slavery, too many living on the breadline, about which we really need to take offence.

If you enjoyed reading this post try Dear Western Democracies Please Bomb Syria

Footnote “I Am Spartacus”

Je suis Charlie – is presumably taken from the story of Spartacus where the Roman leaders demand that Spartacus be handed over to them for execution and ask which one is Spartacus. One by one all the slaves step forward stating “I am Spartacus” thereby risking their own death rather than hand over their leader.