The Paris shootings
have me very upset for a variety of reasons.
There, but for the
grace of god, go I … That’s the first one, though to be perfectly honest I don’t
know if I really have the nerve to be
Charlie—to stand by my convictions as both a satirist and journalist in the
face of potentially dangerous threats by this generation’s Nazis.
I sincerely admire
them for doing so. In my career I’ve experienced relatively small examples of
public discontent in one form or another and it never feels good. I like to
think I stand by my beliefs to some extent, but I’d be lying if I said I would definitely
willingly open myself to such grave possibilities … I’m really not sure I could
do it … I’m glad I don’t have to decide today …
Meanwhile a part of me
questions the wisdom of inciting the insane. The longer I live, sad to say, the
more pointless it seems to waste time trying to sway anyone’s ideas, let alone
the warped, murky reasoning of authentic fanatics.
So what was the point
behind taunting these assholes?
Reflecting on it, I
don’t think most normal folk feel that compelled to offend anyone or do
anything so outlandish that it would significantly buck the conventions of
their time. And yet being told that one is not allowed to do something almost
makes it a necessity—nay, a responsibility—to
do so.
Therefore to some
extent there was no point, excepting the fragile value of simply being free to
do so. And that is really something—to commit yourself wholeheartedly to a
value for that value’s sake.
Yet how many of us
would potentially jeopardize our warmth and safety—at least in this age of
placid comfort—to do so?! I’m reminded of my favorite quote from Dumbledore in
Harry Potter, who said, “Dark times lie ahead of us and there will be a time
when we must choose between what is easy and what is right.”
Whether it ever
intended to or not, the American government has done a brilliant job of
neutering its dissenters. Following the emotional explosion of the Sixties it wisely
allowed a generous liberal girth in which those with opposing ideas could grow
fat and sedentary. (Television—the great lobotomizer—was a key part of this,
but there were other weapons employed.) It was a brilliant strategy to, in essence, peacefully disarm rebellion.
To me it serves to
demonstrate how religious fanatics of this strain have other pathological
motivations beyond changing the world to their so-called god’s liking—namely a disturbed desire for confrontation. That’s why on one level standing up to these
kinds of people is a mistake, because the confrontation feeds them. Would that
we could just ignore them, like errant toddlers, and they would tire and fall
to sleep. Their misplaced zeal is of the same fabric—the stuff of undeveloped
brain casings and the delusions of an infant’s mentality.
Another key button to
this whole tragedy involves people—in this case the editorial team—not being
allowed to just be themselves. From a purely psychological standpoint I place
tremendous value on the benefits of a person being allowed to embrace their
authentic self. Personal repression of one kind or another grows to infect and
damage. I suspect a lot of emotional maladies could fix themselves if people
were only given the safe space to be who they really are. So to consider this
from that standpoint—an extreme example of simple intolerance—is sad and
frightening, as well as grossly unfair.
I earlier referenced
these people as Nazis in part because they embrace those same values. One of
the things I find so frightening is not just the physical dangers that people
like this present, but that overriding fascistic threat to conform or die. It
seems there are so few of us these days that have the strength to resist. If
push came to shove how many of us would quietly roll over and start reading the
Quran even though we didn’t want to.
But through the
darkness of these evil deeds comes the vibrant outpouring of light and love and
consciousness, and that brings its own set of strong emotions.
People around the
world—normal people—are once again being united in their clear common beliefs
of what they think is right and what is wrong, what they value, what kind of
world they want this to be, what it means to be human and humane, what it means
to be spiritual, and what the “God” that unites us all—whatever the hell his
name is!—wants us to be doing in that name!
Vive
la France! Vive la Liberte’!
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