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Originally Posted by speede5
I think it does matter what they are targeting, pretty sure hate speech is not protected under freedom of speech. When you lump all those covers together it sure starts to look like some form of racial targeting.
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The funny thing is that before the attack, many people (religious and secular thinking people) were criticizing Charlie Hebdo for printing racist, xenophobic, homophobic and sexist cartoons. From what I read, they are a publication already popular in France's xenophobic anti-immigration community. Now that they were attacked, they seem to be beyond criticism. To be fair, they are equal opportunity offenders, but the anti-Islam angle is what has been driving their fanbase and making them money lately.
Making something racist and slapping the "satire" label on it might be something people are free to do, but it doesn't make it worthy of praise and respect, or any less racist.
I guess it is somewhat ironic that the Muslim extremists essentially martyred what they hate. Too bad the material is just going to become more popular now though.
Sort of OT:
Apparently the issue the past week was a plug for Michel Houellebecq, a French author often associated with France's anti-immigration right wing groups. He has a new book coming out where plot revolves around the dangers of France one day electing a Muslim president in order to counter the surging right wing Front National movement.
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This week's issue has on its cover a cartoon about Submission, the controversial new novel by Michel Houellebecq.
The plot is simple: just a few years down the road France elects a Muslim president in a bid to block the far-right, anti-immigration Front National from taking power.
Critics have lambasted the book for offering intellectual underpinning to a nightmare scenario often mentioned by the Front National itself. It's a gift, one said, to Front National Leader Marine Le Pen.
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http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/france-...page-1.2893262
For those that don't know, the Front National is basically a fascist nationalist party in France. The current leader is a documented Holocaust denier and believes immigrants are "mortal threat to France".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Front_(France)
Incidentally, the party is also using this tragedy to push their agenda on the death penalty:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/wo...y-9965607.html