What happened to Charlie?

It's an undeniable fact that the attack on French satire newspaper, Charlie Hebdo, is a tragedy. However unwarranted and tragic this massacre was, it nonetheless raises the question of how far journalists can and are willing to go in the realm of satire. Are there things that should be off-limits? Religion has always seemed to be a taboo topic in American satire, but the French appear to have no qualms with making fun of prominent religious leaders and the religions themselves. The provocative cartoons that are a staple of Charlie Hebdo's pages are no doubt offensive to the groups they target, yet under the premise of freedom of speech, these jabs shouldn't be punishable by death.

Many have criticized the newspaper for attacking faith and religion so freely, claiming that, although violence is by no means an appropriate response, people are going to always react strongly to their faith under attack. In an interview, Pope Francis spoke out on this stating, "There is a limit. Every religion has its dignity ... in freedom of expression there are limits."

That being said, I think it's also interesting to look at the politics that are at play in relation to journalism in France. According to the article from Vox, there are a lot of anti-Muslim sentiments circulating in France, with the government going so far as making it illegal to cover one's face in public. This sort of outright intolerance sets the stage for tension between Muslims and France. Provocative cartoons from a small satirical newspaper shouldn't fuel that tension as much as it has, yet recent attacks prove that extremists are willing to capitalize on it. It's important to distinguish that the attack on Charlie Hebdo was by Islamic EXTREMISTS, not average civilians. However, that distinction often gets muddled, thus painting Muslims in an unfavorable light and fueling Islamophobia even further.

I don't think censoring or even refraining from covering certain topics is the answer to combatting this kind of violence. Freedom of speech is by far one of the most important aspects of Western culture, and it shouldn't be compromised at the will of extremists. However, I do believe that there is a way to express free speech without being overtly offensive. I may not completely agree with all the moves Charlie Hebdo has made, but I will stand in solidarity with fellow content-creators to defend freedom of speech and honor those who died while expressing it.