The right to offend

#JESUISCHARLIE (#IAmCharlie) is an increasingly popular hashtag in social media posts to express sympathy for and solidarity with the murdered staff of the French satirical journal Charlie Hebdo.

Named after the Peanuts character Charlie Brown, Charlie Hebdo first came out in 1969, but varying economic, political and personnel circumstances led to a sporadic publishing history. Writing in the net publication Quartz, Emma-Kate Symons describes Charlie Hebdo as “a proudly anti-organized religion and congenitally politically incorrect” publication. Despite running on a shoestring budget, the magazine “has been fighting the good fight for freedom of thought and expression and a secular public space for years when many were ambivalent,” says Symons.

Although it has had covers attacking prominent French politicians and public figures, as well as Catholic leaders including the Pope, Charlie Hebdo often got into trouble when it dared launch barbs against Islamists and even ventured to depict the Prophet Mohammed. Threats against the magazine had been publicly aired for years, and in 2011 its old headquarters was fire-bombed.

But last Wednesday, three masked gunmen broke into the Charlie Hebdo offices in Paris and began firing. The magazine’s editorial staff was holding a meeting at the time, so among the dead were magazine editor Stephane Charbonnier, known by his cartoon name “Charb,” and staff members, among them some of France’s most prominent cartoonists.

Witnesses said the gunmen shouted “Allahu Akbar” (God is great) while firing at the Charlie Hebdo employees.

The latest news is that the youngest of the suspected gunmen, who is 18 years old, has surrendered to the police and has been arrested and taken into custody. Photos of the two older suspects have been released and a nationwide manhunt is underway.

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TODAY, sympathizers and “free speech” lovers have gathered at the streets outside the Charlie Hebdo offices to denounce the violence unleashed against those merely invoking the right to offend and thumb their noses at propriety.

Writes Symons: “Beyond the immediate political fallout, the ‘greatest’ to emerge from this crime expressly motivated by religious fanaticism are not God, the ‘avenged’ prophet, or Islamist extremism…

“Despite the murderers’ prayers invoking God and Allah, the heroes in this horror are the creative minds of this noble publication. Atheistic agitators, they fought literally to the death for freedom of thought and expression, the liberty to offend, and the right to be iconoclasts…

“They died as they lived: standing up for their principles, the principles the French first fought for in the 1789 Revolution. Their only ‘weapons’ were their illustrating pens and their words.

“The martyred editor-in-chief and beloved illustrator ‘Charb’ said it best in 2012, after years of attacks against his magazine: ‘I am not afraid of reprisals. I don’t have kids, I don’t have a wife, I don’t have a car, I don’t have credit. This may sound a bit pompous but I would prefer to die standing than to live on my knees.”

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THE Charlie Hebdo case is horrific by itself. But on our shores, where sensibilities, especially of those in power, are so easily riled and their indignation so easily asserted, there is a parallel case.

And that’s the case of tour guide, performance artist and history student Carlos Celdran, whose conviction on the charge of “offense to religion” has been upheld by the Court of Appeals. (His lawyer promises to raise the case all the way to the Supreme Court.)

If you will remember, Celdran “offended” Catholic bishops when he interrupted a religious service at the Manila Cathedral by striding to the altar and holding up a sign that read “Padre Damaso.” Celdran was dressed in the style of Jose Rizal, and “Padre Damaso” is the name of a friar character in Rizal’s novel who was duplicitous and venal.

Did the bishops feel referred to? Will Celdran, who has publicly apologized for his actions, spend time in jail for daring to challenge the bishops’ hegemony on public morals?

The “right to offend” has led to the deaths of 12 journalists and public commentators. Lovers of free speech should stand behind Celdran and uphold his—and our—right to speak out certain truths, no matter how uncomfortable.

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IN THESE trying times, raising children to be responsible adults—adults who are at the same time well-adjusted, respectful of others, optimistic and filled with hope—is indeed a daunting challenge.

Fortunately for Filipino parents, despite old issues and new technological advances, there are resource people they can turn to for guidance and support as they go about their daily tasks of parenthood and family life.

On Feb. 2, a daylong “Parenting Academy” will be held at St. Luke’s Global City offering talks and exercises on such crucial topics as: “Parenting 101,” “Connecting with your Teenager,”

“Parenting in the Digital Age,” “Financial IQ,” and “Parenting Children with Special Needs.”

The keynote speaker and main organizer of the Academy is Dr. Lourdes “Honey” Carandang, perhaps the Philippines’ foremost authority on child-rearing and advocate of “mindful” parenting. Other speakers and session leaders are Queena Lee-Chua and her son Scott, Rose Ferrer Fausto, and Dr. Joanna Herrera, along with the rest of the team of MLAC (for Mindfulness, Love and Compassion) Psychosocial Services.

Open to the public, the Parenting Academy charges P1,800 for members, P2,000 for nonmembers, and P1,000 for students (student ID required). For inquiries, contact Jaymee at 09166821437.