Rod Dreher offers a provocative counterpoint to the Je suis Charlie meme that has been sweeping the internet in the wake of the Paris shootings. Dreher writes:
If you can’t imagine wearing an “I Am the Catholic League” (if you are a secular leftist) or “I Am NARAL” (if you are a pro-life conservative) t-shirt in protest of deadly violence against those organizations, then you should think twice about tweeting or claiming the phrase Je suis Charlie. I mean, you can and should be in solidarity with those dead journalists, and hope for their murderers to be caught and punished within the fullest extent of the law. But let’s be honest: for most of us Americans, to claim that we “are” them is kitsch. We may think we are Charlie, but that’s only because it’s cheap and easy to be Charlie. And uplifting: How nice to be moved, with all mankind, by being Charlie.
Read the rest here.
One Comment
Christiane Smith
Hi DENNY,
having used your link and read the article, I was struck by this portion at the ending
‘ “For reminding me of that, and more importantly for risking death merely to say something they thought worth saying, I can put aside what they said about the Pope and say “Je suis Charlie.” ‘
I saw the writer’s understanding of the principle of ‘solidarity’ in the way that it advocates setting aside ‘self’ and joining with others for a greater good. On the other hand, I saw that what must be set aside is often that which insults ‘personally’ so that something of value to the whole community of mankind is supported . . . and that is a puzzle for many to solve for themselves:
do we lay aside what is ‘ours’ to preserve and enter into a union for what is even more important to all?
or do we stand firm in our own righteousness while we see others (who have offended us) attacked by those who would destroy that which even we ourselves know are important to all mankind?
And what is the role of the Christ-follower? What did Our Lord Himself do for a flawed and injured mankind?
The truth is that there is no problem for which the gospel of Our Lord is not the answer, so we can find our hope for direction from His example. To whom else can we go?
.