Terror in Paris

There does not seem to be too much shaking in the news world today except for the terrorist attack in Paris on the French magazine Charlie Hebdo.  Charlie Hebdo is a satire magazine whose notoriety grew with their caricatures of the Muslim Prophet Mohammed in many less than flattering poses.  From NPR:

"Many Muslims consider any depiction or mockery of Muhammad to be blasphemous. In a 2005 episode, Danish newspaper cartoons satirizing Islam provoked protests there and in several other countries, some of them violent.

 The cartoons in Charlie Hebdo pulled no punches. They included drawings of Muhammad naked and were accompanied by sexual commentary."

The deadly attack in Paris certainly raises a number of issues, again, about freedom of speech, Islamic extremism, and to what degree some in the west continue to poke a stick at people with a known penchant for responding violently to such pokes."

While a great many people are howling mad at the wanton death and destruction which led to the deaths of 12 people (10 staff, two police officers), there are those in legal circles who are advocates of the theory of Contributory Negligence. 

For example, a pedestrian crosses a road negligently and is hit by a driver who was driving negligently. Since the pedestrian has also contributed to the accident, they may be barred from complete and full recovery of damages from the driver (or their insurer) because the accident was less likely to occur if it weren’t for their failure to keep a proper lookout. Another example of contributory negligence is where a plaintiff actively disregards warnings or fails to take reasonable steps for his or her safety, then assumes a certain level of risk in a given activity; such as diving in shallow water without checking the depth first.

I am in no way condoning the actions of the 3 terrorists who escaped by hijacking a car, however one can certainly conceive how extremists could be goaded into their actions by religious leaders who are deluded in their belief they speak in righteous anger as if they were the mouth of God.  This is by no means merely an Islamic thing, Christians and Jews are just as guilty of inciting violence via religious fervor.  Just look at hate crimes in America whipped up by the vitriol of the Religious Right against anyone who isn't them. 

Salman Rushdie, a British novelist who was sentenced to die by Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini for his novel The Satanic Verses is no stranger to violence spurred by religious fervor.  Rushdie had this to say about today's attack:

"Religion, a medieval form of unreason, when combined with modern weaponry becomes a real threat to our freedoms. This religious totalitarianism has caused a deadly mutation in the heart of Islam and we see the tragic consequences in Paris today. I stand with Charlie Hebdo, as we all must, to defend the art of satire, which has always been a force for liberty and against tyranny, dishonesty and stupidity. ‘Respect for religion’ has become a code phrase meaning ‘fear of religion.’ Religions, like all other ideas, deserve criticism, satire, and, yes, our fearless disrespect. "

I am not a big fan of organized religion due to my own experiences with fundamentalist fanaticism.  Yet I still retain some faith that there is a greater Spirit or Intellect out there, however I think religion hijacked the message and perverted it for its own purposes of power and control.  Sadly, today's terrorist attack is another all too frequent example of this perversion of the message of love supposedly put forth by 'people of faith'.  Everyone has the right to their own beliefs.  Those rights stop at the end of your fingertips.  No one has the right to impose their beliefs on anyone else be they personal, political or religious by any statute, seduction, intimidation or violence.  It is a lesson that still needs to be learned by way too many who are ate up with their own egotistical power trips to realize they could be totally wrong in thought, deed or action.  That, my friends, is a sorry state of affairs for which unfortunately I have no ready solution. 

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Your Midweek Musical Moment features the six Opus 2 Duets for Flute by Johann Joachim Quantz.  Today's performance is by Claudio Ferrarini & Giorgia Rodolfi.  You may also hear Quantz' Concerto for Flute, Strings & B.C. in A minor with a performance by Les Buffardins under the direction of Frank Theuns over on my tumblr.  

This week's Wet Wednesday collection of seriously sexy winners of the genetic lottery are on display below the play list.  These guys want to remind all of us in the Northern Hemisphere that somewhere in the world it is still warm.  And fun to frolic about the pools, beaches and baths of the world.  Additionally, the sexiness continues over on my tumblr with Sensualissimo, Your Hottie of the Day!.  Thanks for the visit, see you again soon.  Until next time as always, Enjoy!