Rains brought by Tropical Depression Amang, which is expected to move northward, hover around the schedule of Pope Francis as he arrives today in Manila for the second and last leg of his Asian trip which began Monday in Sri Lanka.
That’s the weather outlook until the Pope goes back to Rome by Monday but certain global stories also hover around papal attention and I think that at the proper time, he will speak extensively to the media about the January 7 murder of Charlie Hebdo cartoonists by Islamists and the slaughter of thousands of civilians, mostly Christians, in Nigeria by insurgents called Boko Haram.
In the aftermath of the Paris carnage, the phrase “Je Suis Charlie” became the slogan for free speech. Previous issues that poked fun at the prophet Muhammad have become “prized possessions” around Europe.
True to the satirical weekly magazine’s tacit mission, “the right to blaspheme,” Charlie Hebdo, which has ridiculed Jesus Christ, the pope, prostestant leaders and other religions, is not toning down or even changing its anti-Islamic materials in the days to come.
By now, you must have come across on-line reports popping out of your Facebook pages about Charlie Hebdo’s first issue after the grisly attack. The latest edition has the prophet Muhamad depicted in a cartoon holding a “Je Suis Charlie” sign and above the cartoon, the words, “All is forgiven” in French. The issue is expected to become a bestseller, exceeding all expectations by any standards.
The weekly’s regular circulation is around 10,000 copies. In 2006, when it also ran afoul with Islamic groups for mocking their prophet, the magazine hit 160,000. This week, some three million copies have been printed. Because the materials in the latest edition are being lifted by the United States mainstream newspapers including news cable channels, it can only mean that Charlie Hebdo’s irreligious and irreverent ways have attracted quite a following.
After the attack, the French government including press groups affiliated with Google and other media organizations in Europe made huge cash donations to the irreverent weekly magazine. In effect, they uphold Charlie Hebdo’s right to blaspheme.
Meanwhile, Boko Haram, which is pushing for a Sharia law-based education versus Western style teaching, burned and pillaged villages in central Nigeria. The violence began January 3 but the heaviest toll happened in January 10 in the village of Borno.
Boko Haram fired away at some 2,000 people, killing them like insects, according to news reports.
Open condemnation and worldwide sympathy that poured in mass media met the Paris murders but the grisly and savage wholesale killings of Nigerians hardly dented the surface of global attention. The Archbishop of Nigeria is calling for support in the face of a looming protracted war in which the military would be unable to subdue Boko Haram “because they have the backing of militant Islamic organizations all over the world”.
Stratfor, the global intelligence agency views the conflict between Christians and Muslims as “A War Between Two Worlds”. The conflict has its origins after World War II when Europe lost its control over Africa and permeable borders enabled Africans to enter the wealthy continent. Author George Friedman said, Europe’s appetite for cheap labor and the desire of Africans to work and earn money gave rise to multiculturalism.
The tolerance for a people with a different culture by an economy that relies on cheap labor has sparked conflicts over the years. Charlie Hebdo’s right to blaspheme works well in a liberal society, but what about the people who, although living in the same community, do not embrace irreligious ways and consider them as evil that need to be eradicated?
The Charlie Hebdo affair reminds me of an incident some four years ago when a leading newspaper in Jamaica published a 10-foot sculpture depicting Christ’s naked body and exposed genitalia. The Observer published photos of the sculpture in a three-page spread in Easter, the holiest season for Catholics.
The response of the sculptor to the controversial article was one of pleasure saying, “If you don’t create a stir, what is the point of doing your work?”
The article triggered a curt letter to the editor by Archbishop Donald J. Reece of Jamaica who fumed and wondered why the magazine would come up with “an exposition of Christ’s naked body in reference to the sacrosanct belief (by Catholics) of the Eucharist”.
He then proceeded to criticize the obtaining double standard in the western press, which freely publishes Christian symbols in a disrespectful way.
“I wonder if an artist had caricatured the prophet Muhammad or some aspects of the Koran, if you would have featured it so readily and prominently in your newspaper,” Archbishop Reece said.
Apparently he had not heard about Charlie Hebdo.
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