Amy Coney Barrett And Radicalism – Religious & Political

Perhaps by now you’ve heard of the sad and tragic news out of France, that recently, Samuel Paty, a 47-year old male teacher was brutally decapitated by a radicalized 18-year old, Russian-born male Muslim student. Though one committed the heinous act, at least 10 students have been arrested for participation in the plot. The prime suspect is a Chechen refugee.

According to Reuters, the episode began when several Muslim parents were angered earlier this month after Paty taught a mandatory “moral and civil education” class on freedom of expression, and had shown to his pupils 12 cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, which were originally published in a Danish newspaper before republication in Charlie Hebdo, a French satirical publication renown for their anti-establishment satire poking fun at the far right, and aspects of Catholicism, Judaism and Islam.

The Guardian reported that a parent of one of the students in Paty’s class had posted a response to an angry video complaining about the class. The respondent wrote: “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?”

The French satire magazine Charlie Hebdo recently republished for a second time the same cartoons (also seen here) the day before the beginning of a French trial of 14 individuals accused of helping 2 attackers kill 12 at the newspaper on January 7, 2015 following initial republication of the cartoon.

In an interview with France Inter radio, Tareq Oubrou, imam of a Bordeaux mosque, criticized Paty’s murder and other violent acts by such radicals and their sympathizers saying, “We are between hammer and anvil. It attacks the Republic, society, peace and the very essence of religion, which is about togetherness.”

https://www.businessinsider.com/france-teacher-beheaded-prophet-muhammad-cartoons-students-detained-2020-10

When examining Amy Coney Barrett as a nominee to the Supreme Court, this is what some fear – NOT Islam, or its teachings, per se, but the radicalization of a minority sect within it, or any other religion or political movement, which justifies criminal acts in the name of their deity or beliefs, and who by force would impose their beliefs upon all others upon penalty of death or imprisonment for daring to question either their interpretation of their holy writ, or the ideas, subjects and personas in it.

Our Constitution has a well-known “no religious test” clause which is applicable to ALL in any type of government or public service office at any level, and Thomas Jefferson’s “Letter to Danbury Baptists” makes explicitly clear that he and other Founders sought to create a “wall of separation” between religion and government so that one’s support of and/or adherence to any religious faith would not unduly violate the Establishment clause of the First Amendment, nor prohibit “the free exercise thereof.”

The enjoyment of liberties and rights in our nation are open to ALL without regard to any factor. For some, such freedom is thought of as dangerous and needs to be limited, while for others those freedoms form the foundation of civil society.

Image of 3 November 2011 cover of Charlie Hebdo, renamed Charia Hebdo (“Sharia Hebdo”). The word balloon shows Muhammad saying, “100 lashes if you don’t die laughing!”

Muhammad with a short sabre and a black bar censoring his eyes. He is flanked by two women in niqaabs burkas, having only their eyes visible.

A police line-up of seven people, with the witness saying: ‘Hm… jeg kan ikke lige genkende ham’ (‘Hm… I can’t really recognise him’). Not all people in the line-up are immediately identifiable. They are: (1) A generic Hippie, (2) politician Pia Kjærsgaard, (3) possibly Jesus, (4) possibly Buddha, (5) possibly Muhammad, (6) a generic Indian Guru, and (7) journalist KÃ¥re Bluitgen, carrying a sign saying: ‘KÃ¥res PR, ring og fÃ¥ et tilbud’ (‘KÃ¥re’s public relations, call and get an offer’).

A nervous caricaturist, shakingly drawing Muhammad while looking over his shoulder

Muhammad as a peaceful wanderer, in the desert, at sunset. There is a donkey in the background.

An abstract drawing of crescent moons and Stars of David, and a poem on oppression of women ‘Profet! Med kuk og knald i lÃ¥get som holder kvinder under Ã¥get!’. In English the poem could be read as: ‘Prophet you crazy bloke! Keeping women under yoke’

Muhammad standing on a cloud, greeting dead suicide bombers with ‘Stop Stop vi er løbet tør for Jomfruer!’ (‘Stop, stop, we have run out of virgins!’), an allusion to the promised reward to martyrs.

Muhammad with a bomb in his turban, with a lit fuse and the Islamic creed written on the bomb.

An Asian-looking boy in front of a blackboard, pointing to the Farsi chalkings, which translate into ‘the editorial team of Jyllands-Posten is a bunch of reactionary provocateurs’. The boy is labelled ‘Mohammed, Valby school, 7.A’, implying that this Muhammed is a second-generation immigrant to Denmark rather than the man Muslims believe was a prophet. On his shirt is written ‘Fremtiden’ (the future). According to the editor of Jyllands Posten, he didn’t know what was written on the blackboard before it was published.

Two angry Muslims charge forward with sabres and bombs, while Muhammad addresses them with: ‘Rolig, venner, nÃ¥r alt kommer til alt er det jo bare en tegning lavet af en vantro sønderjyde’ (loosely, ‘Relax guys, it’s just a drawing made by some infidel South Jutlander’. The reference is to a common Danish expression for a person from the middle of nowhere.

The face of Muhammad as a part of the Islamic star and crescent symbol. His right eye the star, the crescent surrounds his beard and face.

KÃ¥re Bluitgen, wearing a turban with the proverbial orange dropping into it, with the inscription ‘Publicity stunt’. In his hand is a stick drawing of Muhammad. An ‘orange in the turban’ is a Danish proverb meaning ‘a stroke of luck.’

Muhammad standing with a halo in the shape of a crescent moon.