Like the rest of the world, I mourned the loss of human life when Muslim terrorists killed members of the editorial staff of France’s Le Magazine Charlie. A part of me, however, wondered why it is we insist upon the right to speak whatever we please while at the same time denying others the respect for what they believe. 

Charlie Hebdo’s lawyer Richard Malka told France Info radio: “We will not give in. The spirit of ‘I am Charlie’ means the right to blaspheme.”

Those words make me shudder…“the right to blaspheme.”

Not having seen the cartoons which caused the terrorists to react so violently, I can only think how I would feel if Jesus were pilloried by the media. It was aggravating enough to see President Obama portrayed as another Hitler. 

Of course sane people would not demand an “eye for an eye,” as religious fanatics have taken to doing. I just wonder why the need for provocation? All it takes is one crazy to pull the trigger and end a life. In the case of Paris…several.

Speaking of guns, the NRA’s dogmatic stance against even fractional change claiming “the right to bear arms,” seems to turn a blind eye to all the killings that have occurred when crazies arm themselves with semi-automatics and hunt down innocent people, including elementary school children.

Freedom of speech and the right to bear arms. What ever happened to respecting another’s beliefs…and…someone else’s life?

Seems to me the more advanced we become, the less human we are. We attribute more significance and value to what we have acquired as a species, and less to who we are…thinkers who can decide right from wrong. 

Perhaps I’m crazy to suppose that others have as much right as me to be respected for what they believe, and that the lives of others are as precious as my own.

The dictionary defines terror as “intense fear.” That seems to be at the heart of our problems.

We’re living in fear of one another!

All manner of prejudices are boiling over and we seem beyond the point of turning back. Humankind seems determined to bring about its own demise.

When did we become…

…all about me???

………hugmamma.