Superversive Blog: Special Guest Post by Amy Sterling Casil
A guest columnist speaks of today’s massacre:
The murder of the creative artists, the mockers, the happy, sardonic Gallic humorists at Charlie Hebdo, is the intersection of madness and evil with “normal” life. It is almost inconceivable to us in the west that anyone would murder over any cartoon — we have a long tradition of egregiously offensive visual and written material intended to evoke laughter, not bullets. It is inconceivable to Islamists that they could tolerate any type of mockery of their beliefs; they cannot conceive of their enemies in the west who gladly mock anything thought to be sacred. For every limited, small Mohammed cartoon mockery, there are literally thousands of sacriligious images mocking Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, and other sacred Christian images. The “Piss Christ” artwork is legendary — a lot of faithful Christians and others with a basic sense of respect for others’ beliefs didn’t like that image one bit — but the creator Andres Serrano, who put a crucifix in a jar of his own urine, took a photo, and called it “art,” is very much alive, well and showing in major museums around the world.
Few people draw, or publish, any cartoon, with the anticipation that a gunman will show up at their door to put a stop to future efforts. Charlie Hebdo had been under threat for years, suffering a firebombing in 2011 and numerous threats. The cartoonists knew what they were doing – in this sense, they were freedom fighters. They knew the gunmen could be at their door on any given day. So too, did the police, who assigned guards who lost their lives in the attack.
Today as I think of my French colleagues and their families, suffering because of funny cartoons, I grieve for them and my heart breaks, but I also wonder which is worse? To do what you believe in, at the cost of your own life, or to do what feels expedient, what it seems that others want, or to do what others tell you is what you should be doing, and live a long, safe life – no gunman at your door?
For at least the past year, I’ve been thinking about the more insidious, slow, permanent and all-inclusive sort of censorship. The censorship we apply to our own selves – whether consciously or subconsciously.
Read the whole thing: http://www.ljagilamplighter.com/2015/01/07/superversive-blog-special-guest-post-by-amy-sterling-casel/
About John C Wright
John C. Wright is a practicing philosopher, a retired attorney, newspaperman, and newspaper editor, and a published author of science fiction. Once a Houyhnhnm, he was expelled from the august ranks of purely rational beings when he fell in love; but retains an honorary title.
