Radical actions used

in order to defend a
religion? Not a fair
idea.
By Emma Diaz

t has been said that the

attackers of the Paris attack in January, killed the twelve individuals from the Charlie Hebdo
magazine office, because they had published a humorous, but offensive image of the Prophet
Muhammad. It is understandable that they could have been upset at the Charlie Hebdo magazine,
because even if there is a freedom of speech, nobody should have the right to offend a religious
image which is very important and sacred for many individuals.
Even certain political leaders around the world have stated that the actions taken by those
individuals do not resemble their religious beliefs. For example President Francois Hollande
declared that, the terrorists, these fanatics have nothing to do with the Islamic religion and also
German Chancellor Angela Merkel similarly stated that the attackers have nothing to do with
Islam.
Being devoted to a religion is something that people around the world do during their lives.
People do different things to be faithful to their religion, and of course if someone makes a an
offensive publication about their religion and beliefs, they are most likely to be upset at them, but
is killing a mass of people the right way to defend their religion? Not really.

Personally, I believe that killing those individuals is not a deed from a religious person, because
no matter what your religion is or what your beliefs are, killing a person is a bad action and a
crime. Even if you may disagree with someones ideas, murder is never going to be the solution
to any disagreement or any problem. Therefore whenever a person has a conflict with another
person or a group of people, the best way to fix the problem is by discussing how both parties
could be in good terms, being as fair as it can be for both of them.
Therefore, I believe that the solution to this controversial issue is to limit the press freedom,
because the world is very diverse and it is better to avoid situations like the Charlie Hebdo
attack.
For example in China they practice five different religions including: Buddhism, Taoism, Islam,
Catholicism, and Protestantism. Having that much diversity in religions, we could assume that
there are many conflicts, but according to a U.S government report China has a restricted
religious freedom which may help their community avoid issues like the Paris attacks.
It is important for everyone to have the freedom to express themselves, but we also need to
understand that our ideas are not always going to be the same as other peoples ideas. That is
why there should be limits to what the press wants to publish, since they could know that some
of their opinions could offend others and consequently cause chaos among individuals.
We also know that because of the diversity among all the people around the world, there are
many disagreements and conflicts between various individuals, but we all should instead
appreciate diversity and see how great it can be to have different ideas and still learn from each
other, always trying to respect the different aspects of each person in this world.

References
Muravchick, J. (2015). Muslims and Terror: The Real Story. Commentary, p37-46.
Retrieved from: 0-web.b.ebscohost.com.lib.utep.edu

FlorCruz, M. (2015, January12) Charlie Hebdo in China: Limited press freedom will prevent
similar attacks, state media says. International Business Time.
Retrieved from: www.ibtimes.com/charlie-hebdo-china-limited-press-freedom-willprevent-similar-attacks-state-media-1780304

[Newspaper image] Retrieved April 17, 2015 from:

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