The Dangers of Defending an Open Society Against Ideological Murderers

The newspaper, Charlie Hebdo, was daring to speak uncomfortable truths about people, beliefs and institutions that were intolerant, driven by right-wing values, and did not hesitate to impose their views on others who did not share them. [Read more]

Christopher Hitchens Islam Comments Resurface After ‘Charlie Hebdo’: ‘It’s The Most Depraved Religion’

Christopher Hitchens, the late author and atheist extraordinaire, made a career out of bashing religions. If it believed in a god, then he had no use for it, except to make a career out of lampooning it and dealing out the harshest of criticisms. [Read more]

Salman Rushdie Responds To Charlie Hebdo Attack, Says Religion Must Be Subject To Satire

Salman Rushdie released a statement defending the art of comedic criticism, writing, “I stand with Charlie Hebdo, as we all must, to defend the art of satire, which has always been a force for liberty and against tyranny, dishonesty and stupidity.” [Read more]

These Are The Charlie Hebdo Cartoons That Terrorists Thought Were Worth Killing Over (with Cartoons)

Gunfire broke out Wednesday in an attack at the offices of French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, leaving 12 dead, including four prominent cartoonists. [Read more]

Muslims Around The World Condemn Charlie Hebdo Attack

Muslim leaders and activists immediately denounced the terrorists actions, reiterating the verse in the Quran that tells Muslims when one kills just one innocent person, it is as if he has killed all of humanity. [Read more]

Interfaith Literacy: Omar Sarwar on Religious Violence

This post elaborates on Sarwar’s view of Sam Harris’ philosophical approach, which Sarwar describes as a “a curious amalgam of utilitarianism and moral naturalism.” [Read more]

More Defense of Anti-Religious Cartoons

The Daily Mail has put up a tw**t with lots of poignant new cartoons showing artists’ solidarity with Charlie Hebdo. [Read more]

Richard Dawkins Says ‘Religions Are NOT Equally Violent’ After Charlie Hebdo Attack

Author, biologist and New Atheist Richard Dawkins took to Twitter to sound off on religion after the attack on France’s satirical weekly publication, Charlie Hebdo. [Read more]

Richard Dawkins Still Doesn’t Really Get the Whole “Race” Thing

I take it the point of the tweet was to respond to a common criticism of new atheist writers—that they’re Islamophobic and racist. [Read more]

Inside The New Anti-Muslim Group Gaining Strength In Germany

PEGIDA appeared out of nowhere in October and now draws thousands to its protests. Lucian Kim reports for BuzzFeed News from Dresden on the rise of the shadowy new group. [Read more]

From Egypt’s Leader, An Ambitious Call for Reform in Islam

Egypt’s president opened the new year with a dramatic call for a “revolution” in Islam to reform interpretations of the faith entrenched for hundreds of years. [Read more]

Islam is the Most Violent Religion in the World, But Let’s Keep Calling it ‘Peaceful’ Anyway

We’ve been here frequently over the past, say, 1,500 years or so. It’s the place where the whole world stands in dumbfounded shock after witnessing unspeakable brutality at the hands of Islamists. Maybe we should stop being so surprised. [Read more]

Is More Blasphemy the Best Response?

Awful as the Paris massacre is, does it really mean that we ought to blaspheme more? [Read more]

Cartoon: Freedom vs. Freedom