Today I had a plan. I was going to write a post about Irish Breakfast for "My Irish Experience" series and I already had a good bit written in my head.
Tonight I have no words. And I certainly don't want to talk about food. I'm not even hungry. I am angry.
This morning I went to work as usual, and as I was checking Facebook, I realised my news feed was inundated by posts about a terrorist attack in France. Three men entered the head office of the satirical newspaper "Charlie Hebdo" and shot 12 people dead including the editor, journalists, cartoonists and police officers. I was shocked to say the least and I think I spent a good part of my day reading the news. I am still in shock tonight.
We don't have to agree with everything journalists publish in general, but everyone has the right to express themselves, especially in France, a secular country with a history of freedom of speech. So NO, I cannot accept the fact that someone would be killed for drawing, writing and basically expressing an opinion. If it starts like this, where does it end?
I heard someone on the news tonight that said something that resonated with me: "There are not a lot of countries where all religions are accepted and everyone, regardless of the religious beliefs, can be accepted fully as a citizen. France is one these countries".
I don't know what to say anymore, but what I know is I HAD to write something. I usually don't write about politics or too serious subjects. My blog is light-hearted and should be taken as such (and I hope I'm not offending any Irish people around!), but today is different. So I've made an exception. It's not my best written piece, but I am still overwhelmed with emotion and thinking of France at the moment.
Let's be all united again extremism.
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| By David Pope |
