最近《查理周报》(Charlie Hebdo)的漫画家遭到暗杀，这令人遗憾。制造幽默来帮助我们应对现代生活的日常压力不应该是一个危及生命的职业——即使它是传统的毫无品味的法国“gouaille”幽默，它故意令人发指和冒犯。

Satire is a good tool for social commentary. Satire doesn’t (usually) kill anyone. It is an irreverent rebellion against the target’s power and influence. The fact that a satirist has made us laugh about something forces us to at least wonder if there is some truth in it; maybe we were wrong, after all. Since considering that we may be wrong is the hallmark of an intelligent mind, this is a very good thing.

Satire seems especially legitimate when it makes fun of the powerful. It can bring them down a peg. That’s why it is acceptable for a humorist to make fun of politicians. They have some power. Ridiculing them—in theory, at least—is an act of courage.

By the same standard, it certainly is not acceptable for people to make fun of those with, say, Down syndrome. They have little power, and ridiculing them is an act of bullying.

Cartoonists at Charlie Hebdo have claimed to be protecting the separation of church and state. Laurent Léger, who survived the attack, once told CNN, “Everyone can be religious, but extremist thoughts and acts we cannot accept.” But Gérard Biard, another survivor, once told the New York Times, “You’re not meant to identify yourself through a religion, in any case not in a secular state.” This seems to imply that it is wrong, in Biard’s view, to declare or celebrate your religion at all. This is quite different from only attacking extremists. One worries that he feels justified in attacking anyone who wears a hajib/burqa, turban or even a cross in public.

Let’s consider the case of drawing pictures of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). On the one hand, there is no reason for non-Muslims to follow Muslim rules. When we eat with Muslim neighbors, they never eat pork. We would not even consider serving them pork. But we can eat all the pork we want, because we are not Muslims and not subject to their dietary restrictions. So why should we have to avoid drawing those pictures?

We donot必须的。但是，除了礼貌和礼仪之外，它还带来了“幽默伦理”之类的东西。正如我们必须不断提醒自己的那样，世界上20亿穆斯林中的绝大多数都是和平、勤劳的邻居，他们只是想在一个安全、提供机会的世界里养育自己的孩子。描绘先知穆罕默德深深地冒犯了所有的穆斯林——不仅仅是我们想要打击的少数激进分子。总体上攻击穆斯林不仅是一种欺凌(在某种程度上，他们逐渐成为了替罪羊，就像20世纪30年代的犹太人一样)，而且也正中激进伊斯兰主义者的下风。他们很高兴有这样的例子，他们可以将其描述为基督教对整个伊斯兰教的讨伐的一部分。

As Pope Francis recently said, there is freedom of expression and there is respect for a person’s deeply held beliefs. Although this is a matter of etiquette more than a restriction on free speech, these things do have to be balanced by thoughtful people, including cartoonists and humorists. Making fun of religion is certainly acceptable to me. I am the coordinator of the Iron Range Coalition of Reason, which exists to protect the rights of non-believers. But, if Muslims become :the new Jews," I do not want any part of adding to their persecution.

By all means, let’s ridicule Islamic terrorists. Anytime we make light of a fearful situation, it helps us cope. If it is done carefully and with respect for the dignity of Islam, such humor might even encourage mainstream Muslims to speak out more loudly against extremists. But in the process, let’s not ridicule Islam, the Prophet Muhammad, afternoon prayers, or anything else that attacks all Muslims indiscriminately and aids radicals in recruiting.