REPLY TO SOFA AND CMoMM on CHARLIE HEBDO

I don't know if you have yet been whooshed from Jill Havern's but I have taken the liberty of copying your post here for those who are following the Charlie Hebdo debate:

 http://maddiemccannmystery.forumotion.co.uk/t494p15-hi-from-sofa#15888

'Just decided to stop on Jill havern as I felt this forum has some incredible discriminating post on a specific community and I feel that I did not want to be identified with it anymore. I hope I will be welcome here!'

Cristobell:

Hi Sofa and a big welcome from me too :)

I'm just catching up reading the thread in the other place, and astonished is my first reaction!  Well done you in putting forward your opinion so eloquently and rationally in the face of such ignorance and prejudice.  The little englanders are out in force and once more giving the impression that we are indeed a nation of small minded shopkeepers.

I find it so difficult to comprehend the reasoning behind the pure hatred that these people have for anything alien to themselves, they don't understand it, therefore it must be hated and shooed away from the rest of the tribe.  Their God (who no-one can see) is bigger and more powerful than the aliens' God (who no-one can see), so someone among the righteous (the larger group) rallies the troops and we have war!

I used to be anti-theist, because the idea of worshipping someone unseen is absurd, and because all the atrocities committed in the name of 'my God is bigger than your God' are some form of manmade evil that goes beyond my comprehension.  In my opinion every society needs a religion to keep the population in check and threatening them with an eternity burning in hell usually does the trick. 

I do however respect the right of people to hold beliefs, its a tough old life and who and what can we turn to in our darkest hours if we have no God?  Religion also provides a community and social interaction for those who might otherwise be isolated, it gives a sense of belonging - its the excluding bit that I find distasteful. Some people turn to booze and drugs, some take their woes to a higher power, whatever gets you through the night, say I.  However, its when 'a few' start to insist that everyone share their beliefs that sticks in my craw, or indeed when they demand that the rest of us respect these manmade deities to the point of insanity. They are asking, nay demanding, that we give the cuddly toy a kiss goodnight and treat it as part of the family as if we were trying to get a 4 year old off to sleep.  The objects and images are no more 'real' than the teddy bear and we don't beat up other people for saying it's not, even if it does upset Precious. 

Those demanding that 'The State' protect their deities from ridicule have been around since the first group of wannabe alpha males got together and made a plan to take control.  Its a tribal thing.  The majority of Muslims are peace loving, family loving, community loving, citizens, just like their Christian and Jewish neighbours.

What people take offence at, is a very personal thing, it comes from the heart.  The only way in which I can explain it, is to compare it to the way we respond if anyone (outside of the family) criticizes or attacks our children.  We are overtaken by ferocious desire to kill, well I am lol, that is beyond our control. It is a primevil response that bypasses logic and rational.  Some people are able to take the ferocity aroused and apply it to a cause and a God, but its usually for self aggrandisement.  Mr. Bennett is a typical example, in having a 'cause' Mr. Bennett is not seen as promoting himself, it is something for him to hide behind.  His xenophobia stems not from a need to protect his family and his community, but rather from his need to be seen as doing so. 

Imo, the fury he is using, is driving him insane, he has enemies approaching on every front.  He has jumped on the Charlie Hebdo bandwagon, but once again, he has jumped on the wrong bandwagon.  He misreads public opinion, and has taken the actions of a few to a condemn the many, and in doing so he has drawn others out of the woodwork.  I have to smile at the irony of Tony fighting for Free Speech, try speaking freely on Haverns and see where it gets you!  Like the McCanns, its the very last thing he wants!  :) 

As you rightly pointed out Sofa, these lunatics represent no-one, other than similarly minded lunatics.  Birds of a feather and all that, and perfectly illustrated on forums such as Stop the Myths and now Jill Haverns.  Surprised at how few spoke up for you, and once more disappointed that the otherwise intelligent poster Petermac is so deeply entrenched in such prejudiced thinking.  Sadly, I think he is greatly influenced by his background and ideas that once dominated police thinking. 

But I digress, it seems the Christian soldiers are out in force over there Sofa, and you never really stood a chance.  Common sense, reason and logic is usually followed by a ban.  I hope they haven't banned you, because at the moment you are way ahead in the polls, and defeating their arguments hands down  :) '

My deepest, heartfelt sympathy meanwhile goes out to those murdered by those criminals, I imagine their families and loved ones must still be in a terrible state of shock.  Those incredible, creative people simply carried on the tradition of their forebears, those brave men and women in revolutionary France who used cartoon, satire and wit to overturn the barbaric, inhumane regime that kept the majority of the population crippled by poverty and injustice.  Albeit, they replaced it with a similar regime of barbarity and inhumanity, but tis the thesis, antithesis etc.  I'm always a tad disappointed that the 18th century Brits lacked the rebellious spirit of their sexy voiced neighbours, and secretly wished I had a bit of Parisian in my gene pool, hearing La Marseilles always brings a lump to my throat. 

Meanwhile, I pray to whatever God there may be to bless the victims and their families at this time and let sanity prevail.  This was an attack on Freedom of Speech, it had nothing to do with religion.  I suspect Charlie Hebdo had many enemies, the sorrow lies in those who are using this atrocity to stir up racial hatred against the majority of Muslims who are just as appalled as the rest of us.