The shock waves from the killings at the Paris office of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo continue. After the newspaper sold millions of copies of its first edition after the massacre, riots tore apart cities in francophone North Africa, where the remnants of French colonialism continue to be felt. A huge march in Paris, attended by many European heads of state and other officials (though not by anyone from the U.S. over the rank of ambassador), seems likely to provoke answering attacks from the large Muslim underclass whose religion is a favorite target of satire among some of the literati.
Some claim this is a free-speech issue, and condemn anyone who would suggest that artistic expression should be subject to any limits. The fact that those expressing outrage at satire so offensive and pointless that it borders on intentional insult are followers of a religion that has been co-opted by a growing radical movement seeking to replace what many view as deeply corrupt governments in the Middle East, and Europe makes it easy to condemn any response other than solidarity with the cartoonists as pro-terrorist. But I think you can be critical of Charlie Hebdo without condoning the killing of 12 of their employees.
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