Free Republic

In the aftermath of the deadly assault on the offices of Charlie Hebdo, a French satirical newspaper, much of the world has rallied in solidarity with the publication, its irreverent cartoonists and their right to free speech. But not everyone is so supportive. Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League, a U.S. organization that "defends the rights of Catholics," issued a statement titled "Muslims are right to be angry." In it, Donohue criticized the publication's history of offending the world's religiously devout, including non-Muslims. The murdered Charlie Hebdo editor Stephane Charbonnier "didn’t understand the role he played in his [own]...

"Charlie Hebdo has a long record of mocking, baiting and needling French Muslims," Barber writes, pointing a finger at the paper for inciting the violence. "France is the land of Voltaire, but too often editorial foolishness has prevailed at Charlie Hebdo." He continued: This is not in the slightest to condone the murderers, who must be caught and punished, or to suggest that freedom of expression should not extend to satirical portrayals of religion. It is merely to say that some common sense would be useful at publications such as Charlie Hebdo, and Denmark’s Jyllands-Posten, which purport to strike a...

London Imam Anjem Choudary said that “you can see very well now in Paris, what the consequences of insulting the prophet are” and you need to understand that in Islam, this [insulting Mohammed] carries capital punishment” on Wednesday’s “Hannity” on the Fox News Channel.