Écrasez l’infâme

I’ve said it before but

A god who wants people to MURDER other people for disputing or laughing at or drawing cartoons of or sharing cartoons of that god or any of that god’s children or holy spirits or prophets or hairdressers or chauffeurs or button-polishers

is an EVIL god and not anything to be worshiped.

Today in Paris:

… a man who decapitated a teacher with a large kitchen knife near a school in a Paris suburb after he showed his class caricatures of the prophet Muhammad from the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo.

For some reason the Guardian decided to lead with the fact that the police shot the man, but fuck that, the core fact is that the man MURDERED a teacher and cut off his head. Over fucking cartoons. Of a long-dead “prophet” of a shitty patriarchal bloodthirsty religion centered on a god that doesn’t exist.

The victim was a 47-year-old history-geography professor – the subjects are taught together in France – but also gave the obligatory courses in “moral and civil education”. It was as part of these, and while talking about freedom of speech, that the professor showed pupils, aged 12 to 14, the caricatures. This sparked complaints from a number of parents and one family lodged a legal complaint.

And so the teacher was slaughtered in the street. That’s fine then. The “prophet” is avenged.

After the contested lesson, an angry parent posted a video on YouTube complaining about the teacher. On Friday night, another parent posted below the video, defending the professor, writing: “I am a parent of a student at this college. The teacher just showed caricatures from Charlie Hebdo as part of a history lesson on freedom of expression. He asked the Muslim students to leave the classroom if they wished, out of respect … He was a great teacher. He tried to encourage the critical spirit of his students, always with respect and intelligence. This evening, I am sad, for my daughter, but also for teachers in France. Can we continue to teach without being afraid of being killed?”

Can religion get in the sea?

Macron, sombre and visibly moved, spoke briefly after visiting the college where the murdered professor worked. “One of our compatriots was assassinated today because he taught. He taught his students about freedom of expression, freedom to believe or not believe. It was a cowardly attack. He was the victim of a terrorist Islamist attack,” Macron said.

“This evening I want to say to teachers all over France, we we are with them, the whole nation is with them today and tomorrow. We must protect them, defend them, allow them to do their job and educate the citizens of tomorrow.”

The citizens. Not the slaves of a god and its prophet, but the citizens.

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