Thoughts on the Massacre in France
9th January 2015
Lileks has some comments to make.
One of the murdered French cops was Muslim, and it seems a shame this has been swamped by the discussion of the murder of the magazine’s staff. It is not Islamophobic to note that he was killed by a co-religionist for being on the wrong side of the ledger at that particular moment; it is revelatory of the narrow definitions the murderers apply. I hope France reveres his memory as much as the cartoonist who didn’t share his beliefs.
And that’s important to note: Not even being Muslim oneself will protect one from the more-Muslim-than-thou crowd.
To see people who enjoy the benefits and diversions of Western Civ nod with understanding when illustrators are shot in the head for inappropriate drawings – it suggests that there are people who respond to such events as though a tuning fork had been struck. It is impossible to know how many people heard the resonance of the note. It is impossible to know how many first felt understanding but immediately, or subsequently, revised their emotions. It’s a case of “the cartoons were wrong BUT” vs. “the murders were wrong BUT”. Who knows how that played out in the minds of millions, and at what pace? It’s not a question you can answer, but that doesn’t mean it’s a question you can’t ask.
…
If there is pride in Europe among these people, it is a nonexistent state they believe they can will into existence, a version cleaned of its historical sins by the elimination of its national (i.e. sectarian) divisions. Okay, okay,: you had a bad experience with nationalism a hundred years ago. Get over it.