YOURSAY 'You'll be surprised there are M’sians who agree with the killings.'

The value of Charlie Hebdo

KJ John: Thanks S Thayaparan for a good, reflective piece that forces us to review our own values of democracy; and the gap between our theories and our practice.

MingXiang: This attack on Charlie Hebdo is vicious, but frankly this pales in comparison to what the Islamic State (IS) is doing in Syria and Iraq on a daily basis to Christians, Yazidis and even to Muslims.

Dswami: This is the beginning of the death of freedom of speech in the West. Journalists would shut up and play safe, and wouldn't get involved in controversies involving Islam.

Journalists help shape societies. The journalists who were killed were willing to die for freedom of speech. Not many are left.

The same cannot be said of the cowardly journalists who hashtag from a safe distance away.

Anonymous_1386743292: The way this article is written is as though the cartoonists and the newspaper staff are totally innocent bystanders, but they were not. They incite the anger of the Muslims on purpose, like producing the cartoons depicting Prophet Muhammad.

Surely when they did that they must expect some reactions from Muslims. And they got one which unfortunately took their lives. The white men think they can do anything without consequences in the name of free speech.

Soo Jin Hou: For those who criticise the Charlie Hebdo cartoonists, please go look up the word 'satire'.

If you cannot shrug off how the Western world makes fun of everything, which is the appropriate reaction to satire, then please return to whatever Muslim country you are from.

Mob1900 : You'll be surprised there are a lot of Malaysians who agree with the killings of those who 'mocks and insult' religion. The deafening silence and unwillingness to condemn the killings are laid bare for all to see.

Versey: Much as I dislike anybody poking fun on religions, I disagree with such arguments that the cartoonists (or anybody) got what they asked for because they have provoked the anger of the Muslims with what they did.

As far as I know, their cartoons or satire weren't solely on Islam but also on other religions and establishment. In fact, Charlie Hebdo has had more legal run-ins with Christians than with Muslims.

The reality is, Charlie Hebdo's paper didn't have enormous readers and for 10 years from 1981, it ceased publication because of lack of resources. It's the extremists' reactions that helped to promote them into ‘fame’.

Indeed, such brutal/barbaric reactions of these gunmen do more harm to the religion and tarnish the faith they proclaimed. Such violent reactions show their deficiency in the knowledge of their faith and depth of character to engage these people in a civilised manner.

They have not trusted the Almighty God enough. He doesn't need man to ‘defend’ His good name.

Dizzer: Why should Islam have special protection from irony, comedy or indeed, insult? This will definitely stiffen some right-wing sinews in Europe, which has been (generally) pretty accommodating to Muslim immigration.

The Analyser: The great irony of this growing Islamic problem is that the Muslims of the western world are there because they fled the violence, repression, hate and discrimination in their home countries.

Now representatives from their home countries have pursued them to undermine the non-Islamic values they so desperately sought.

Anonymous_1387813439: Muslims, please don't emigrate to Europe, United States or Australia if you can't accept their culture or lifestyle. Don't simply shoot and kill the innocent, and claim that you act on behalf of your God.

Is your God so powerless that he needs your assistance? It is high time for Muslims around the world to wake up. Something has gone wrong.

Swipenter: Religion is the opiate of the masses past, present and future. Those who are claiming that their religion is here to save humanity from the clutches of the devil inevitably produce the most religious fanatics, who would kill others in the name of their religion, no matter how they claim their religion is about love, compassion, forgiveness and tolerance for all.

Anonymous: Commander Thayaparan, it is the silence of the moderates that emboldens the fanatics. What we see in this incident is that it will fuel the right-wing’s agenda.

It will not be 19,000 at Dresden, it will be more come this Monday. How ironic it is when the English rightwing group of St George will stand in solidarity with the Germans.

Fair Play: Killing innocent bystanders by their atrocious act will never shock the civilised world. It will only harden their resolve to wipe out these extremists sooner or later.

The global economic war has now taken on a new dimension. The persistent decline of oil prices and Opec's insistence in defending their market share at all costs will only lead to one outcome - winners and losers. No prize for guessing who the eventual losers are.

FairMind: As far as Islam as is practised in this country, Malcolm X's quote of "someone steps on your toe, chop off their foot" is not even true.

They tell the Muslims in this country that someone, imaginary, has stepped on their toes and Islam is continuously under siege.

They (Umno and their NGOs) carry their religious axes, not to defend their religious faith but to defend their hegemony and gravy train.

Every time an atrocious incident happens, the moderates come out to condemn. But at the end of the day, they still vote the hardliners and false practitioners of Islam into power because of decades of brainwashing that erodes their own self confidence.

So these atrocities will never end as long as the hardliners and false prophets occupy the position of power, not to protect Islam, but for their own selfish agenda and greed.

Jenglot: The attack once again demonstrates the complexity and brutality of the terror threat the world faces today.

Terrorists use the media to magnify their actions and further spread fear. And when we react out of fear, when we change our policy to make our country less open, the terrorists succeed.

With guns you can kill terrorists, with education you can kill terrorism.

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