On Instrumentalizing Freedom Of Speech And Macron’s Problem With Islam
Amid this worsening crisis between France and leaders of some Muslim-majority countries, media outlets are manufacturing narratives favorable to the side they support. Facts and truth matter. They matter because a sound solution to a problem must be built on the truth for a solution to endure. Truth did not survive Western media drive to create a narrative that portrays Muslims as being unappreciative of or hostile to freedom of speech. A German news outlet (dw.com), for instance, proposed the following chain of events:
A French high school teacher circulated the 2015 Charlie Hebdo cartoons that depicted the Prophet Muhammad. The teacher was killed by a suspected Muslim man. Reacting to the killing, Macron delivered a spirited defense of free speech and secularism. Subsequently, Muslims reacted angerly to Macron’s speech and called for a boycott of French goods.