“A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death.”
- Albert Einstein
As a fellow writer, I simply cannot condone the acts of terror unleashed upon the Charlie Hebdo magazine contributors, and citizens of Paris. Were it not for Freedom of Speech, this blog would not be called Highly Opinionated. In fact, there would be no blog. There would be no blogs, period; no opinions articles, no ‘comments’ boxes, no real journalism. People would no longer have the confidence to speak up about their opinions, or challenge society. Life as we know it would be so drastically different and dismal, and passionate opinions would be lost.
Change comes when
people take control and make change, and journalism and media play a
pivotal role in that. Just take a look at previous revolutions, the fall of the
Berlin Wall, and Election campaigns, for example. None of these would have
taken place or caused change without media coverage and opinions. Who are we
without opinions? We are no longer Human. We would be machines. In fact, the
one thing that defines robots and differentiates machine from man is that
robots operate without thought or emotion.
“The concept of robots is a very old one yet
the actual word robot was invented in the 20th century from the Czechoslovakian
word robota or robotnik meaning slave, servant, or forced labor”
- Mary
Bellis, Inventions Expert
As Jon Stewart effectively put it in ‘The Daily Show,’ “comedy
should not be an act of courage.” We do not take to the web, the radio, the TV,
Theatre, papers, or Film, as an act of courage. We take to these platforms in
order to use our voice, to promote new ideas or thoughts, or to challenge
existing ones. To place an attack on journalists over a cartoon is to attack an
opinion. If everybody took up arms because they disliked the opinion of
another, the world would cease to exist. The fact that psychopaths who do so
are getting away with it, is morally wrong. People are entitled to their
opinions; and whether we like these opinions or not, they ought to be
respected, because our opinions are our rights.
And so I urge you, fellow writers, to join together in
solidarity, and use this right we have, as our own weapon to speak out against
this atrocity, and show them that this is wrong and will not be tolerated.
"The aeroplane and the radio have brought us closer together. The very nature of these inventions cries out for the goodness in men - cries out for universal brotherhood - for the unity of us all. Even now my voice is reaching millions throughout the world - millions of despairing men, women, and little children - victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people.To those who can hear me, I say - do not despair. The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed - the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress. The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people. And so long as men die, liberty will never perish. .....
Soldiers! Don't give yourselves to brutes - men who despise you - enslave you - who regiment your live - tell you what to do - what to think and what to feel! Who drill you - diet you - treat you like cattle, use you as cannon fodder. Don't give yourselves to these unnatural men - machine men with machine minds and machine hearts! You are not machines! You are not cattle! You are men! You have the love of humanity in your hearts! You don't hate! Only the unloved hate - the unloved and the unnatural! Soldiers! Don't fight for slavery! Fight for liberty!"
Charlie Chaplin - 'The Great Dictator'
