Does It Catch On?

The media has recently centered around the deaths of the 17 victims killed by a group of Islamic extremists targeting members of Charlie Hebdo, a weekly satirical French magazine. These French cartoonists created satirical images of Muhammad that had unfortunately provoked the violence of these extremists. Following this crisis, the term "Je suis Charlie" has arisen as a slogan meant to be a sentiment for the losses of these victims. The popularity and spread of these phrases have spread across the world and have even been written in their own languages. In English, it would translate to "I am Charlie". Yet, the quick spread of this slogan highlights that it could just be another trend, one in which many do not fully understand the extent of what they are saying.

One of the main topics brought up from this crisis has been the concept of freedom of speech. In saying "Je suis Charlie", one can also be supporting the basic rights to speak freely. The members of Charlie Hebdo had drawn images that were highly offensive against the Islam religion and it upset many Muslims. Despite such displease, these cartoonists were undeniably considerably respected individuals for speaking their mind, not caring about who disagreed.

The other aspect of their drawings was that it actually greatly mocked the Islamic religion by devaluing the image of their religious founder. I understand that they wanted to freely express themselves and those that didn't like it should have simply stayed silent, but there is a fine line between being expressive and indirectly insulting a religion.

Although it is important to be open about your thoughts, there must be a certain amount of moderation with your statements and the audience must be greatly considered. In this case, certain individuals reacted too greatly. The term " Je suis Charlie" supports the acts of Charlie Hebdo and is a great concept to be thinking about. Many will say, but only those that understand what it means may be able to understand the message that it holds.