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Articles

Je Suis Libéral

Phil Badger thinks about rudeness, blasphemy and tolerance in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo murders.

There are many reasons why one might choose not to publish a cartoon depicting the Prophet Muhammad but one of them should not be the fear of being shot. Perhaps the best reason would be the desire not to be insensitive to the beliefs of those whose life is given meaning by their faith that the man in question was the final messenger of God. I think that this might be the grounds upon which I’d refrain from picking up my pencil. In effect I’m saying that the best reason for self-censorship is the desire not to be rude. Of course there are times when being rude is justified, and to the extent that some varieties of Islam seem misogynistic, homophobic, and generally reactionary, being offensive about them might seem, at times, rather like a duty.

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