what we defend. […]
It’s important to understand one thing: every time we publish a cartoon, whether it’s about politics, religion or society, it’s because something relevant has happened. If we draw Muhammad, it’s not because we just want to draw Muhammad; it’s because Muhammad is in the news. We are a newspaper that comments on current affairs. To be honest, we’re not really interested in Muhammad. It’s not our problem. We’re not interested in God. We don’t give a damn. But unfortunately, God matters a lot to people in the world, and some use God to exercise a toxic, totalitarian power over others. That’s what we’re fighting against. […]
We’ve now become aware that Islamism is a political ideology, a totalitarian ideology. This is what we need to take a stand against. It’s not against believers. We don’t give a shit about the believers. The believers aren’t the problem. Believers can believe what they like. The problem is the use of these beliefs to control society. That’s what religion does. It’s about how worship, belief and faith are used to exercise control over society and individuals. That’s where the danger lies. […]
Terrorist attacks work like this: if we give in to fear, we will lose more freedoms. We no longer publish what we want to. We reinstate laws to ban blasphemy, as Denmark has just done. But that doesn’t change anything. The terrorism is still there. It still wants to kill. It still wants to kill people who gather to drink, to talk to each other, to make newspapers, to listen to music, even to pray, too. The terrorism doesn’t go away.
So we must fight against it, physically, but we must also fight against it ideologically. And the only way to combat it is by continuing to be who we are, by continuing to exercise our freedoms – and to exercise them with the strongest conviction possible.
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