We know the Westlock News isn't a publication of global, national or even provincial significance, but we're committed to what we do and we take our job seriously.
We do our best to let our readers know about what's happening in this community and offer what we feel is fair comment on the news. No matter what the circulation, newspapers and other publications play an important role in any free and democratic society.
It's with that in mind that we can't help but react to a globally significant event, or rather series of events, which took place in Paris, France last week, when gunmen proclaiming allegiance to Al Qaeda shot and killed 12 people at the office of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.
A lot of the international focus on these events is the fact the magazine that was attacked, Charlie Hebdo, has a history of publishing cartoons deemed offensive by many Muslims worldwide, including images of the prophet Muhammad.
This satirical news magazine published these images knowing full well that it would offend people. In fact, that was probably their explicit intention. And of course, that's kind of a jerky thing to do. Religion is something people hold near and dear to their hearts, and often forms a very significant component of an individual's sense of identity. One is perfectly within their rights to be offended by these publications and to make their opinions known.
In the pages of this newspaper we've sometimes expressed opinions that people of certain religions in our community have found offensive, particularly as it relates to public funding for religious institutions or studying one particular religion in our public schools. For the most part, people's responses to those have been perfectly respectful — with the exception of a bit of name-calling.
It is virtually inconceivable that anyone in the Westlock area would resort to violence because they had hurt feelings due to something printed in these pages.
It's best not to speculate on the specific motives of those responsible for last week's murders, but if we want to continue living in a free and democratic society we should all stand up and say "Je suis Charlie;” an attack on free speech in one place is an attack on free speech everywhere.
