Saturday 10 January 2015

So, they are closing the Grand Synagogue

in Paris for this Shabbat - or rather, they will have done that by now. They have not done that since WWII.
I can understand those responsible for safety there advising it be done - but it lets the terrorists win. It lets the terrorists win - for now.
We can't let that happen.
The very act of closing anything, even for a short period, sends the message, "We are frightened of what you might do next."
It is what the terrorists want. They will merely see it as another challenge, another barrier they have to scale in their filthy war. They know that those responsible for the safety of others will see that as a priority. They know that extra security will cost, that it will divert funds from other things that people need. It is all part of the "punishment" the rest of us are expected to take for not adhering to their twisted beliefs.
Even if we did adhere to their twisted beliefs it would do little good. Those responsible would simply find more and more ways to exert control. They would impose more and more "rules" and demands as to how our lives should be lived.
Charlie Hebdo, and others like it, have been criticised for being "anti-" this and "anti-" that - and even for being internally guilty of prejudice. There are people who will scream "anti-Semitic" and "anti-Muslim" even while they find "anti-Christian" cartoons acceptable.  Our state newspaper has been happy to poke fun at the religious beliefs of the Prime Minister - something they would not dare to do if he was anything other than Christian. People will scream "racist" if anyone tells a joke about someone from Iraq, Israel, Indonesia or an indigenous Australian but will find a similar joke about someone from Iceland or Ireland acceptable.
We have had double standards for too long. If we are going to permit cartoons at all (and how on earth could we stop them even if we wanted to) then we have to accept that Muslims, Mormons, Mexicans, Moroccans and everyone else (including me) is likely to be a target.

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