.... For many French Muslims, religion has become a cultural identity, a refuge in a troubled society where they don't feel accepted, as shown by a recent study of the banlieues, the disenfranchised suburbs of big cities.
Forty years ago, the philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre wrote in a book about the "Jewish question" that many Jews in France felt their "Jewishness" in other people's eyes. Many Muslims feel that now applies to them.
And when a satirical magazine makes fun of Islam the way it would make fun of any other issue, French Muslims don't laugh. Most of them are silently angry or indifferent, but a minority feels empowered to resort to violence. A disturbing reminder of the underground tensions in society.
[A COMMENT] .... beliefs, per se, have no special status and not only can be ridiculed, but often should be. The first step to reducing the power of totalizing paradigms, (whether Islam, Communism, or Catholicism) is to satirize it. Islam, unlike a Muslim, deserves no special respect. [Guardian Cif] Read more
