Je Suis Charlie: Stand Together in the Face of Violence

The offices of Charlie Hebdo were attacked by three men with assault rifles, leaving 12 dead, including staff members and two police officers, one of those a Muslim. The suspects include two extremists, brothers raised in France as orphans. A horrific act by a few does not mean that provocative art practiced by publications like Charlie Hebdo is stupid or wrong, that Muslims are evil, as some commentators were quick to suggest. Free citizens should resist letting the attack influence their writings, speech, or dealings with Muslims, writes Stefan Kuzmany in an essay for Spiegel Online. “Now, more than ever, open society must demonstrate that it is able to integrate – and tolerate –the most disparate of views,” he writes. The terrorists long for such acts to cow free speech and divide democratic societies. Kuzmany urges, France, Europe, and the civilized world to prove that weapons cannot destroy ideas, unite in punishing the attackers under the rule of law, mourning the victims, and supporting free speech and debate. – YaleGlobal