Chaplain's Corner

As I drove to work On January 7, 2015 news of the shooting at the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo was being aired: twelve dead and twenty wounded. Why:  offense taken at the paper’s irreverent treatment of the Prophet Mohammad. Most of us see this as a blatantly wrong response to such an offense; but on the other hand, does freedom of expression mean we can trample underfoot the sacred beliefs of another, even if we believe them to be foolish or even evil?

My dad had an expression that he used often enough when I was a kid that it stuck, “Your freedom ends at the tip of my nose.” This wisdom goes far beyond how I express myself physically. Should we use freedom of expression as a license to ridicule, make fun of, or disrespect those we do not agree with or those we think to be foolish. I would suggest that to do so is an abuse of this precious freedom. Yes, I know this is a Christian value, but the “say anything you want about anything you want” freedom of expression that Western Culture values so deeply seems a bit flawed.

Satire, by definition is: “the use of irony, sarcasm, ridicule, or the like, in exposing, denouncing, or deriding vice, folly”. Satire is by nature provocative. I would ask, “What is it you are seeking to provoke?” It is beneficial to provoke thought, contemplation about the status quo, about ideologies, about politics; to assist people in seeing inconsistencies and glaring hypocrisy, which we often miss these even though they stare us in the face. But if the provocation is simply a mean-spirited slap in the face is there any real merit in that? This is especially true when the satire is aimed at religious belief and spirituality.

Religious belief is one way that people make sense of their world; one of the ways they find a posture of faith and hope to face the chaos that is life; one of the ways that people finds connections that are meaningful and supportive. Religious belief provides for many a grid through which all of life is understood. I understand this for it is true for me. My beliefs about God, the Bible and its teachings are the primary grid through which I run everything. When another person ridicules my beliefs, they assault the core of my being. As a Christian, it is my understanding that when I am ridiculed, God wants me to turn the other cheek; that vengeance doesn’t belong to me, but to God alone. This however is not the understanding of some of the radicalized Islamists in our world; this is not how these people understand the directives of the Koran.

In my work I encounter many people who have beliefs that are markedly different than my own. It is possible to love, respect and care for another, even if the other’s beliefs are diametrically opposed to my own. I have cared for avowed atheists and people of many different world religions. I have cared for some who have judged me to be naïve, deluded, even foolish. Their opinion in no way diminishes what I believe, who I am or my ability to care for them.

God, addresses our use of freedom. I have found His words to provide invaluable guidance in the way I express my freedom. I think we all might do well to ponder these words and consider adopting them as a guideline in how we exercise the precious freedoms that we enjoy: “You … were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. The entire law is summed up in a single command: ‘‘Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.” (Galatians 5:13-15).