| Author |
|
Joseph Gauthier
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 11 March 2009
Posts: 1421
|
| Posted: 07 January 2015 at 2:03pm | IP Logged | 1
|
|
|
I would never have thought that terrorists would descend so low to killing people only armed with a pencil ...
While this episode is indeed tragic and shocking, we need only turn our thoughts a few years back, to the failed ax attack upon Kurt Westergaard's home in Aarhus to realize that this act (at least in intent) is not at all unprecedented.
And while entirely repellant and heart-breaking, the episode should come as a surprise to no one; we need only to understand the Islamist mindset. Just as a single factory behind enemy lines posed a far greater threat during the second world war than an entire line of enemy tanks; to the militant Islamist, western culture itself is the greatest threat they face in their global war on liberalism.
They are at war with us not because of European imperialism, not because of American foreign policy, not because of the existence of Israel, but because they can not escape the constant advance of western values, which offer a stark and appealing contrast to their unreformed, pre-enlightenment world view; and popular culture has always been the vanguard of liberal revolution.
Of course the pencil is the threat the Islamists most fear, because, in truth, the pencil is the most powerful weapon we possess.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Fabrice Renault
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 15 April 2004
Location: France
Posts: 3094
|
| Posted: 07 January 2015 at 2:03pm | IP Logged | 2
|
|
|
Islamists again...
I do hope that this sad, tragic event will be the start of really fighting it back. As it goes, things are accelerating from bad to worse.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Stéphane Garrelie
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 05 August 2005
Location: France
Posts: 4226
|
| Posted: 07 January 2015 at 2:08pm | IP Logged | 3
|
|
|
 It's hard to be loved by jerks.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Philippe Negrin
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 01 August 2007
Location: France
Posts: 2644
|
| Posted: 07 January 2015 at 2:25pm | IP Logged | 4
|
|
|
What a sad day. Cabu was a genius, his cartoons have accompanied me all my life. What a loss. What a horrible start to the new year.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Stéphane Garrelie
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 05 August 2005
Location: France
Posts: 4226
|
| Posted: 07 January 2015 at 3:13pm | IP Logged | 5
|
|
|
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Joseph Gauthier
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 11 March 2009
Posts: 1421
|
| Posted: 07 January 2015 at 3:55pm | IP Logged | 6
|
|
|
...popular culture has always been the vanguard of liberal revolution.
...I don't think I've ever quoted myself before, it feels sort of weird, but the sentiment brings to mind this defacing (?) of a Soviet war monument from a few years ago. When I first saw this image, I realized, for the first time, how complete a victory the west won in the cold war. It's precisely this type of defeat the Islamists are seeking to avoid in their war on liberalism, and this is why unexpected victims such as those murdered today are just as vulnerable as any soldier on any battlefield:
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Stephen Churay
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 25 March 2009
Location: United States
Posts: 8369
|
| Posted: 07 January 2015 at 4:16pm | IP Logged | 7
|
|
|
A sad day for free speech and cartoonists everywhere. I don't
understand the thought process that goes into ending someone's life
for expressing an opinion that you don't believe.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
e-mail
|
| |
Carmen Bernardo
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 08 August 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 3666
|
| Posted: 07 January 2015 at 5:22pm | IP Logged | 8
|
|
|
I come across hearing this news all day as thinking "What else is new?" Islam seems to be the only religion in the world today that actively seeks to destroy anyone who'd make fun of their prophet and their religious laws. It's like they never left the 7th Century. And, like the poor Italian families living in Mafia-run neighborhoods in the States pre-Depression, the majority of good Muslims who'd just leave the cartoonists and editorial writers who poked fun at the prophet Mohammed to roast in Hell while they entered Paradise upon dying seem afraid to rise up and kick out the militants who're doing these killings and vandalism in his name.
There was a politician years ago who said something along the lines of "If not now, then when?" When, and who will be the first to say "Enough"?
Edited by Carmen Bernardo on 07 January 2015 at 5:23pm
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Joe Zhang
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 12857
|
| Posted: 07 January 2015 at 5:38pm | IP Logged | 9
|
|
|
Sometimes I feel people are good despite their religion, not because of it.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
e-mail
|
| |
Fabrice Renault
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 15 April 2004
Location: France
Posts: 3094
|
| Posted: 07 January 2015 at 5:43pm | IP Logged | 10
|
|
|
Time to read "Holy Terror" again.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Wallace Sellars
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 01 May 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 17699
|
| Posted: 07 January 2015 at 6:09pm | IP Logged | 11
|
|
|
I'm just learning about this terrible news. RIP to the twelve whose lives
were taken from them.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
| www
|
| |
Eric Ladd
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 August 2004
Location: Canada
Posts: 4505
|
| Posted: 07 January 2015 at 6:19pm | IP Logged | 12
|
|
|
Tonight on the news I heard someone say that violent shows the power of the media to sometimes offend. I don't think it shows the power of the media to offend, but rather the ignorance of people. I have been offended by points of view, but I know there is no good that comes from killing or destroying the people that do not think like me.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Topic Closed)
