The government of France announced on Wednesday that it will shut down 20 of its embassies in the Muslim world (which arguably includes sizable portions of France, although I don’t think they’ve been cheeky enough to open “embassies” on their own nominal soil.)
Why? Because a French magazine called Charlie Hebdo just published cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed. This is evidently frowned upon under Islamic law… a point previously made to the magazine’s editorial staff with firebombs, after it published a caricature of Mohammed on the front page last year.
The France 24 news service quotes the plucky editor of Charlie Hebdo, Sephane Charbonnier, saying these cartoons of a naked Mohammed will “shock those who will want to be shocked.” I’m going to climb out on a limb here and guess there are plentyof people who want to be shocked.
The French government urged the magazine to refrain from publishing these cartoons, using the soft language of first-stage submission. The government couldn’t find a way to suppress the cartoons, so French officials said that while they respect freedom of expression, they see “no point in such a provocation” and wish “reason to prevail” because “in the current climate” they disapprove of “all excess and call on everyone to behave responsibly.”
In other words, flagrant disobedience of sharia law is extremely unwise, and the government can’t really guarantee your safety if you insist on exercising those “free speech rights.” The State can’t legally censor you, but violent mobs can.
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