Losing your head
In the wake of the brutal murder of a French teacher by an Islamic fundamentalist, thousands have rallied across France to support and honour him.
President Emmanuel Macron said the attack bore all the hallmarks of an "Islamist terrorist attack" and the teacher had been murdered because he "taught freedom of expression".
Education minister Jean-Michel Blanquer said France would succeed in defeating the enemies of democracy if it were united and that all teachers in France needed support. Nathalie, a teacher from Chelles who was at the Paris rally, told Le Monde she was there because she had "realised you can die of teaching".
But let us unpack this a little.
Samuel Paty, a history and geography teacher, had shown caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad to students in his class, in order to illustrate a discussion on the freedom of expression and the 2015 attack on the office of Charlie Hebdo in Paris. He realised that this was a sensitive issue, and dangerous course, having received threats in the past and going as far as advising Muslim pupils to leave the room if they thought they might be offended
.
So, Paty didn't die of teaching
, he was murdered for teaching insensitively, which is akin to stupid when it comes to Muslims and Muhammad. He effectively poked the hornets' nest with a stick. Freedom of expression is a fundamental tenet of democracy, and I'm all for it; but butthurt, thin-skinned Muslims aren't.
Should we have to pussy-foot around religious zealots, of any creed, to avoid offence? No.
If their deity teaches peace, tolerance, and love, should they take guidance from that? Yes.
Should they learn to turn the other cheek and grow up? Yes.
Will they? (LOLZ)
If history teaches us anything, it's that nothing has caused as much death and destruction as religions of peace
and the worship of loving
deities. And that no one gets even, as effectively and brutally, as an Islamic fanatic.
So, yeah, don't upset followers of the religion of peace, kids, or they'll kill you. At least until the promise of 72 virgins in paradise is clarified.*
* As Irshad Manji explains, the promised virgins may be a mistranslation from the Arabic for raisin. If true, it would be cheaper, quicker, and altogether simpler to source one's baking requisites from Tesco.