Posted by: Vivant January 8, 2015
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Nick Clegg put it best "at the end of the day in a free society people have to be free to offend each other. You cannot have freedom unless people are free to offend each other. We have no right not to be offended"
Of course with the freedom to offend comes the duty to be responsible. While it can be debated how responsible people have been in the culture wars that are being played out in many countries in Europe between natives and Muslim immigrants, most right thinking people will probably agree that the excesses committed in the name of religion, particularly Islam, has to stop.
Personally, I think the events in Paris are a seminal moment in the push-back against religious extremism and violence. Unlike other acts of mass terrorism in the West and elsewhere where the victims were random, these were specifically targeted assassinations, where the victims were identified in advance and killed for their convictions. Some of the victims were talked-about figures with public lives. All this allows for people to come to the rational conclusion that the heinous punishment meted out far outweighs the alleged crime and leaves the perpetrators with not even a remotely rational argument to cling to. When the annals of history are written, Paris 2015 may be the turning point in the war against extremism in the name of Islam.
Just a thought.
Last edited: 08-Jan-15 07:38 PM