Today in Paris, one of the most beautiful cities in the world, terror won. Terror had its way with the freedoms and liberties the French admire and so adamantly express. So much so it is their national anthem.
After the shootings in Newtown, Massachusetts, I posted a comment on Facebook about the currency of chaos. How chaos will always have an open bank account, that it will always piss on the ideologies of freedom, peace and equality. That instead of controlling how we individually respond and react to the threats of chaos in our own lives, we need to understand that Yes, chaos is a reality and it needs to be called what it is.
The Islamic terrorists called themselves as such. They identified themselves as members of the Yemeni Al Qaeda. Al Qaeda is a self-identified Islamic terrorist group. They are not terrorists or crazies or fringe. They are an Islamic terrorist group. They rejoice in identifying themselves as Islamic, shouting their Takbir, "Allahu Akbar"..."god is Greatest".
The newspaper is no stranger to controversy. Prior to the Christian Christmas holiday Charlie Hebdo, the satirical newspaper targeted in today's attacks, published derogatory and offensive cartoons about the Virgin Mary.
There were no assassinations after this publication.
This attack was staged by *three* Yemeni gunmen. Three Yemeni gunmen made a military-like attack on a major French news organization and killed twelve people. Not for the Christian Christmas cartoons, mind you, which were also derogatory to another Prophet that Islam identifies as a prophet, Jesus Christ, but for a satirical cartoon published *three years ago*.
Wow. Three years is an awfully long time to hold a grudge, people.
Three years ago Charlie Hebdo published some decidedly crude rude and offensive anti-Mohammed cartoons. While I don't necessarily approve of ANYone being crude, I am a true strong believer in free will. No matter how much I may disagree with one's philosophy, I understand that living in a free country is the price I pay for being offended. While I can be offended, that is the price I pay. As do others who may find offense with my statements. It's a small fee for freedom.
When you speak under the fear of death, that is NOT freedom. That is chaos. That is fear. It is not living to be in constant fear of retribution.
The contrast between these two religions could not have become more clear to me this day.
Islam: You all need a more confident prophet. Your prophet must be awfully insecure if he frets over the words and pictures of a coarse French mortal. You all need a prophet who does not give a shit. You all need a prophet who feels sadness and pity for those who mock him, not personally offended. You all need a prophet like that great man Jesus, who while being murdered on the cross begged forgiveness FOR his tormentors. Jesus cried up to his Father "Forgive them Father for they know not what they do". Jesus never cried for the sins committed against Him. He never wept for the personal hurt he experienced at their hands. He cried for the understanding of what that meant. He was confident enough to know what judgment befell those who condemned him. He didn't need to firebomb the temple or behead the Pharisees.
I mean, yeah he may have overturned a table, but did he send the moneychangers to a soccer field for a public beheading? Hardly.
True freedom means peace. I understand the meaning of true peace. I understand what making choices of free will, without fear of death or dismemberment, means to me as an American. I risk being persecuted. I risk being profiled by the IRS. I risk being called a "terrorist'. But let's be abundantly clear.
I am not a Christian if I go running into a newspaper on Boxing Day in Paris, France screaming "Jesus is Greatest" and start killing those who hurt my feelings. I am a Christian terrorist. But I am not a Christian.
That is why the hashtag #JeSuisCharlie is so important.
Charlie is about freedom to offend. Freedom to express. Freedom to experience Free Will.
Free Will is not about chaos or repression or religious zealotry. Free will is about choosing to make a personal decision about what you believe. Who you believe. On your own without fear of recompense.
Only promise of freedom.
Islamic friends: Y'all need a more confident Prophet. I love you, but you shouldn't have to get personally offended by someone who mocks your Mohammed. Y'all need a Prophet who says:
John 16:33New International Version (NIV)
33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Y'all need Jesus.
Praying for the victims' families in Paris today.
