Wow. Didn't know France was so anti-free-speech.
Beyond that, we need to honestly ask ourselves whether the free speech pushed by Charlie Hebdo is worth rallying around?
Absolutely. Free speech is free speech, and provided your speech does not commit fraud, should be protected. Always.
I may not have been enamored, for example, with the Maplethorpe "Piss Christ" so-called 'art', but I did not burst into his office with an automatic AK and slaughter 12 of his peers.
He has the right to be utterly offensive, and I have the right to be utterly offended.
End of sentence.
It’s absolutely true that Christians didn’t murder people over the faux art called “piss Christ.” Likewise when Charlie Hebdo depicted Christ in equally vile ways believers did not shoot up the newsroom or firebomb them. We prayed for them instead.
Just because someone has a right to do something doesn’t mean we have to rally around them when something bad happens because they’ve exercised a right. Charlie Hebdo had the right to depict Muhammad as they did and the Muslim terrorist attacks against the magazine are outrageous and despicable. However, we don’t need to rally around a magazine who abuses free speech and free press. My objection isn’t that they mocked Muhammad. My objection is that they did it in a vulgar way. In addition they’ve blasphemed Christ. While they have the right to do these things, I’m under no obligation to rally around them or otherwise support their vulgar exercise of rights.