It's on: Charlie Hebdo puts Muhammad cartoon on cover of new issue

If the Islamic terrorist killers who committed mass murder in the office of Charlie Hebdo hoped to intimidate the publication out of publishing further Muhammad cartoons . . . fail:

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Charlie Hebdo isn’t pulling any punches. The caricature of Muhammad on the cover is the same transgression that one of the alleged assailants in last week’s attack said had motivated the killings. This time he is carrying a sign saying “Je Suis Charlie” under the headline “All is forgiven." "People used to say ‘they go too far’ or ‘it’s bad taste,’ ” said Yan Lindingre, a cartoonist who heads humor monthly Fluide Glaciale. “Charlie Hebdo must continue to be what they were.” Another target for this week’s issue is likely to be Sunday’s solidarity march in France, surviving staff members said. The massive rally became a magnet for French and international political figures that have been a mainstay in Charlie Hebdo’s pages. Attendees included dignitaries from Turkey, Egypt, and Russia, countries that it has criticized for curbing free speech. “All those dictators at a march celebrating liberty,” Mr. Léger said. “We of course are going to continue the mockery. We’ll see if it makes them jump.”

I suppose you could argue that it doesn't take that much courage for Charlie Hebdo to tweak the terrorists further at this point, figuring it's unlikely they would become the target of yet another attack. But why would you be confident of that? Even if French police or the military guard the Charlie Hebdo officers 24/7, we certainly know that Islamic terrorists are capable of causing lots of havoc via the use of suicide bombers and plenty of other methods.

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Ask the Israelis about that. If a terrorist group or even a lone-wolf individual is really determined to launch an attack, there's really no way to stop it. It's not as if Charlie Hebdo is on a secure military base. They're in the middle of a city. They could get it again and I'm sure the surviving staff members realize that. Look, I don't want to lionize these guys too much. As a person of faith, I find a lot not to like about the sort of material Charlie Hebdo publishes. But in many ways that's sort of the point. If they were publishing insulting cartoons of Jesus, I would pray for them. I wouldn't do them harm. And that's because - both in terms of my spiritual perspective and in terms of my views on free speech and basic liberty - I see freedom of expression as a lynchpin of a free society. Some liberals and secularist libertarian types are trying to draw an equivalence between Islamists and Christians by pointing out that Christians will also raise objections when either Jesus or the Christian belief system is skewered. Some will, but while we will defend the honor of Christ, we do it in a Christ-like manner. And even when some cross the line and becomee decidedly un-Christ-like, it does not escalate into violence and murder. And in truth, as Christians, we must defend the rights of people like the Charlie Hebdo editors even as we recognize that much of their content is objectionable. It's no different than Jesus preventing the stoning of the adultrous woman - not because He approved of her behavior but because He was there to redeem and not condemn her. As a matter of freedom, I applaud the Charlie Hebdo editors for their refusal to back down and let the terrorists decide what they can and can't do, and that's one of the reasons we join with them in showing you the cartoon as well. The terrorists don't set the rules for us either, no matter what they do.

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