Charlie Hebdo editorial: Will there continue to be 'yes, but?'

[oberliner]

For a week now, Charlie, an atheist magazine, has accomplished more miracles than all the saints and prophets together. That of which we are the most proud is that you have in your hands the magazine that we have always produced, in the company of those who have always produced it.

...

There is however a question which still gnaws away at us: Are we finally going to see the foul expression "secular fundamentalist" disappear from political and intellectual lexicon?

Are we finally going to stop devising learned semantic expressions describing equally assassins and their victims?

In recent years, we have felt rather lonely, trying to push back with our pencils straightforward bullshit and pseudo-intellectual subtleties that they were throwing at our faces and that of our friends who were strongly defending secularism: Islamophobes, Christianophobes, troublemakers, people assuming no responsibility, those who throw oil on the fire, racists, you-asked-for-it ... yes we condemn terrorism, but. Yes it is not good to threaten cartoonists with death, but. Yes, setting fire to a magazine's headquarters is wrong, but.

...

That we will finally stop posturing for electoral reasons or through cowardice, legitimizing or even tolerating community separatism and cultural relativism, which lead to but one thing: Religious totalitarianism.

Yes, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a fact, yes, international geopolitics is a succession of maneuvers and underhand blows, yes, the social situation of "populations of Islamic origin" in France, as people say, is deeply unjust, yes, we must fight unremittingly against racism and all types of discrimination.

Fortunately there are several instruments with which we can try to solve these serious problems but they are all inoperative if one of them is missing: Secularism. Not affirmative secularism, not inclusive secularism, not I-don't-know-what-kind-of-secularism. Secularism full stop.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/14/opinion/charlie-hebdo-editorial-gerard-biard/index.html

This is a translation of an editorial that appeared in this week's Charlie Hebdo magazine, reproduced with permission.

[el_bryanto]

1. That makes a lot of sense. I don't know how far it would go

in this country, but it makes a lot of sense.

Bryant

[Fred Sanders]

2. And ending with a poke at the Pope:

"The millions of anonymous people, all the institutions, all the heads of state and government, all the political, intellectual and media celebrities, all the religious dignitaries who this week proclaimed "Je Suis Charlie" should know that also means "I am secularism." We are convinced that as far as most of our supporters are concerned, that goes without saying. The others can do what they like with it.

Last but not least. We would like to send a message to Pope Francis, who this week, he as well, "is Charlie": We will only accept that the bells of Notre Dame are ringing in our honor when it is the Femen who are ringing them."

Femen?



http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/mar/20/naked-female-warrior-femen-topless-protesters

[oberliner]

3. Amen

Good stuff.

[MellowDem]

4. DU is a mirror to the left in the US...

In that a significant number of those on the left partake in and defend religious privilege.

The yes buts will continue until they understand what they are doing.