According to Plantu, the ceasefire would have to be equally respected by “Middle Eastern artists who draw Jews or Israelis with hook noses.” Reading statements like this, you have to kind of hang your head and wonder if it’s time to change jobs. For Plantu, it would seem, criticizing religion is the equivalent of racism. Plantu equates cartoonists who draw Muhammad with those who participated in the Holocaust drawing contest 11 organized by Iran at around the same time. In Plantu’s opinion, Middle Eastern artists confuse anti-Semitism with blasphemy; two can play at that game by claiming that the Holocaust is a religion and for that very reason its occurrence cannot be denied. And while we’re at it, why not say that there is just as much evidence of the existence of God as there is of the occurrence of the Holocaust. That sound you hear? It’s the Holocaust deniers rubbing their hands together in gleeful anticipation.
There’s no such thing as anti-republican blasphemy!
Sadly, the religious propagandists seeking to make blasphemy a crime in France are not alone. The state itself sometimes sets a bad example. While the word “blasphemy” does not appear in the statutes, and neither do “Francophobia” or “republicophobia,” there are laws that criminalize and punish anti-republican or anti-French blasphemy.
In protest against the decree of July 21, 2010, which outlawed the desecration of the French flag, and against the law of March 18, 2003, which outlawed any public affront to the national anthem or the tricolor flag, in January 2011 Charlie Hebdo called on the citizenry to rise up against censorship. We asked them to ridicule, destroy, or soil the symbol of the Republic. This was an invitation not to destroy anyone’s property, but to demonstrate that a secular republic may not decide for its citizens which symbols are sacred and which are not.
I recall that on March 6, 2010, the Nice branch of the retail chain Fnac held an amateur photography contest. To illustrate the theme “politically incorrect,” one contestant took a picture of a man wiping his ass with the tricolor flag. The photo was honored by the jury and published in the March 19 edition of the free handout Metro . The Police Commissioner, the President of the right-wing UMP party, the General Council, and veterans’ organizations protested. Attorney General Michèle Alliot-Marie and Minister of the Interior Brice Hortefeux also expressed their righteous indignation.
On May 25, 2010, Louis Nègre, the UMP 12 senator for Alpes-Maritime, announced that he had filed a bill that would criminalize the desecration of national emblems. On July 1, 2010, it was reported in the press that two Fnac executives had received notices of termination for grave misconduct. According to company management, they were charged with having “validated” the scandalous outcome of the photography competition.
On July 23, 2010, the decree outlawing desecration of the flag was published in the government gazette:
Desecration of the tricolor flag
Art. R. 645-15. Other than cases stipulated in article 433-5-1, the following acts are punishable by fine, as prescribed for misdemeanors of the fifth class, when committed in circumstances likely to lead to a disturbance of the public order and with the intention of desecrating the tricolor flag:
1) To destroy, damage, or handle the flag in a demeaning manner in a public place or one accessible to the public;
2) For the author of such acts, even when committed in private, to distribute or cause to be distributed recorded images of their commission.
3) A second offense of the misdemeanors herein proscribed shall be sanctioned pursuant to articles 132-11 and 132-15.
On September 27, 2010, the Human Rights League announced that it had filed an appeal against the decree with the Council of State. The League believed that the decree was “a violation of the Constitution and of the principle of freedom of
There’s no such thing as anti-republican blasphemy!
Sadly, the religious propagandists seeking to make blasphemy a crime in France are not alone. The state itself sometimes sets a bad example. While the word “blasphemy” does not appear in the statutes, and neither do “Francophobia” or “republicophobia,” there are laws that criminalize and punish anti-republican or anti-French blasphemy.
In protest against the decree of July 21, 2010, which outlawed the desecration of the French flag, and against the law of March 18, 2003, which outlawed any public affront to the national anthem or the tricolor flag, in January 2011 Charlie Hebdo called on the citizenry to rise up against censorship. We asked them to ridicule, destroy, or soil the symbol of the Republic. This was an invitation not to destroy anyone’s property, but to demonstrate that a secular republic may not decide for its citizens which symbols are sacred and which are not.
I recall that on March 6, 2010, the Nice branch of the retail chain Fnac held an amateur photography contest. To illustrate the theme “politically incorrect,” one contestant took a picture of a man wiping his ass with the tricolor flag. The photo was honored by the jury and published in the March 19 edition of the free handout Metro . The Police Commissioner, the President of the right-wing UMP party, the General Council, and veterans’ organizations protested. Attorney General Michèle Alliot-Marie and Minister of the Interior Brice Hortefeux also expressed their righteous indignation.
On May 25, 2010, Louis Nègre, the UMP 12 senator for Alpes-Maritime, announced that he had filed a bill that would criminalize the desecration of national emblems. On July 1, 2010, it was reported in the press that two Fnac executives had received notices of termination for grave misconduct. According to company management, they were charged with having “validated” the scandalous outcome of the photography competition.
On July 23, 2010, the decree outlawing desecration of the flag was published in the government gazette:
Desecration of the tricolor flag
Art. R. 645-15. Other than cases stipulated in article 433-5-1, the following acts are punishable by fine, as prescribed for misdemeanors of the fifth class, when committed in circumstances likely to lead to a disturbance of the public order and with the intention of desecrating the tricolor flag:
1) To destroy, damage, or handle the flag in a demeaning manner in a public place or one accessible to the public;
2) For the author of such acts, even when committed in private, to distribute or cause to be distributed recorded images of their commission.
3) A second offense of the misdemeanors herein proscribed shall be sanctioned pursuant to articles 132-11 and 132-15.
On September 27, 2010, the Human Rights League announced that it had filed an appeal against the decree with the Council of State. The League believed that the decree was “a violation of the Constitution and of the principle of freedom of
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