January 4, 2016

WaPo columnist says: "Although Muhammad is not depicted, the idea of religion in some form as a villain certainly comes across" in the cover of the Charlie Hebdo marking the anniversary of the massacre.

Here's the cover, drawn by Laurent “Riss” Sourisseau:



The WaPo piece is written by Michael Cavna, "creator of the 'Comic Riffs' column and graphic-novel reviewer for The Post's Book World." There's no detail to his idea that the character on the cover represents "the idea of religion in some form as a villain." The words are translated as "One year on: The assassin still at large." So that guy is "the assassin," but the only indication of religion is the pyramid with the eye. Can we get some analysis? That's not a Muslim symbol at all as far as I can tell. It has more to do with Freemasons than anything else. And it's on the U.S. dollar bill (and the Colorado state seal and the seal of the city of Kenosha, here in Wisconsin). I'm just guessing the cartoonist meant to attack religion in general and to be very obviously not about Islam.

44 comments:

traditionalguy said...

The All Seeing Eye is watching. But does He see you as righteous as His Living Son Jesus, or not?

The Muslims deny that possibility with every fiber of their Religion. Mohammed is dead.

Yancey Ward said...

The magazine learned the lesson the assassins sought to teach it. That is the meaning of the cover. For all the "Je suis Charlie" bullsh*t, the remaining owners and staff clearly understand they were and remain on their own in regards to mocking Islam.

n.n said...

It's not religion that has been the cause of mass abortions and rights violations, but rather left-wing ideology that concentrates capital and control in minority hands. The problem with Islam is that it is a universal religion or moral philosophy degraded through marriage to a left-wing ideology.

And, in modern times, it is not faith in an extra-universal entity that justify mass abortions, rights violations, and liberal departures from the scientific domain, but faith-based legal/moral laws pulled from a penumbra that established a wide-spread belief in spontaneous conception and other principles that debase human life, corrupt science, etc.

tim in vermont said...

You could have looked into the root of the word "assassin" and asked yourself why they used that word that didn't exactly fit...

The Assassins (from Arabic: حشّاشين‎ Ḥashshāshīn[1]) is the name used to refer to the medieval Nizari Ismailis. Often characterized as a secret order led by a mysterious "Old Man of the Mountain," the Nizari Ismailis were an Islamic sect that formed in the late 11th century from a split within Ismailism, itself a branch of Shia Islam. In time, the Nizaris began to pose a military threat to Sunni Seljuq authority within their territories by capturing and inhabiting many unconnected mountain fortresses throughout Persia (and later also Syria) under the leadership of Hassan-i Sabbah (who is typically regarded as the founder of the Assassins), therefore founding the so-called Nizari Ismaili state. While "Assassins" typically refers to the entire medieval Nizari sect, in fact only a class of acolytes known as the fida'i actually engaged in assassination work. - Wikipedia

Michael said...

This is the kinder gentler Charlie Hebdo. wonder why they have toned it down?

gspencer said...

The thobe,
the sandals,
the full beard,
the clenched fists,
the blood stains,
the weapon,

All of it dog whistles telling us the real enemy,

Captain Kangaroo!

http://www.fiftiesweb.com/tv/captain-kangaroo.jpg

YoungHegelian said...

While I really don't want to even insinuate that I support the cold-blooded murder of lefty satirists & cartoonists, I gotta say, the guys at Charlie Hedbo really are boringly narrow-minded & monotonous in their views of how the world works.

You have no idea how much I miss the National Lampoon of the 70's, who had a much broader vision of just how fucked up, well, basically everything is. I guess the Ivy League educations of many of the editors had made them familiar with Immy Kant's dictum that "Out of the crooked timber of humanity no straight thing was ever made".

Lydia said...

The French and the Freemasons have a long history -- see this piece France: Where Freemasons Are Still Feared:

In France, the story that keeps coming back is about Freemasons. It’s everywhere. Most big French magazines run at least one big Freemason cover a year. Books dissect the “state within a state,” to borrow from a recent title. Blogs abound. ...

The way the French see it, Masons are a fifth column at the heart of French society, a cabal of powerful politicians, businessmen, and intellectuals with a hidden agenda that is difficult to pin down because it’s, well, hidden. Nobody knows quite what the Masons are up to, but everybody suspects they’re up to something.


Two of the journalists at Charlie Hebdo who were killed in the attack last year were Freemasons, so don't know what the cover is trying to say about Freemasonry and the attack.

Lyle Smith said...

It's not okay to make fun of white supremacists or just white people either! LOL!

Anonymous said...

Translation:

Both WaPo and Charlie Hebdo avoid "He who not be Named"

Lydia said...

Meant to add that the article I linked to above also points out that French Freemasonry doesn't do religion at all:

Freemasons everywhere steer clear of organized religion, and they never talk about God. But they insist on a belief in what Masonic jargon calls the Grand Architect of the Universe, however each member may define it. Phooey, said the French. That’s just religion through the back door.

Rusty said...

Is Freemasonry even a religion? I was under the impression it was an excuse for middle aged guys to drink and stand around in funny hats.
Which, now that I've read what I typed, sounds a lot like a meeting of Catholic bishops.

robother said...

"Behead me once, shame on you, behead me twice..." No one ever got shot for mocking a Cosmic Muffin.

Ann Althouse said...

Both my grandfathers were Freemasons. Both had funerals that were done in Freemason form. But both ostensibly belonged to Protestant churches that they attended with their family. These churches were Presbyterian (on my father's side) and Methodist (on my mothers side). The funerals were unusually somber -- scarily dark as I remember. It did not come across as Christian. The men who performed the ceremony appeared to take it very seriously. It did not seem like just a club for fooling around.

Roughcoat said...

The way the French see it, Masons are a fifth column at the heart of French society, a cabal of powerful politicians, businessmen, and intellectuals with a hidden agenda that is difficult to pin down because it’s, well, hidden.

Wait ... are they talking about Jews here?

tim in vermont said...

I am trying to think of the religion that people world-wide associate with the AK-47...

Lyle Smith said...

During school integration in the South a local white Freemason threatened to run my dad out of town for helping to racially integrate the local school. However, growing up long past desegregation I've met some other Freemasons and they are just normal, upstanding citizens with no open racial animus.

Hagar said...

The Shriners are a peculiarly American branch of Freemasonry.

HoodlumDoodlum said...

Religion is to blame, you see. Christianity is a religion, and Islam is a religion, and religion believes in unseen mystical forces, so it's all the same thing.

Sure, the particular religion that will murder your in your offices for expressing a particular view just HAPPENS to be Islam, but come on, we all know it's the same thing.

Militant Islamists, sedate Unitarians, non-violent Masons: it's all the same thing. So, so obvious.

tim maguire said...

The beard and the sandals say ascetic adherent of a desert religion.

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

Using the Eye of Providence was probably just an attempt to garner publicity.

traditionalguy said...

Freemasonry theology is carefully hidden inside a social club's confusion until you get into the higher Degrees. You can move up to a 33rd Degree. By then it becomes your how to manual for ancient religious ceremonies that end with the worship of Osiris, Baal and Jehovah as if they are three equal parts of god. Not that there is anything wrong with that.

Gk1 said...

Its funny to see what pussies liberals actually are when it comes to offending people who will punch back.

n.n said...

HoodlumDoodlum:

It's the Age of Pro-choice. Principles are negotiable, selective, and, realistically, do not matter.

Well, other than as evidence to predict future orientations and behaviors, especially for construction of classes representative of individuals with commonly held principles.

Alex said...

Wow that WaPo columnist is sickening.

jr565 said...

not ALL religions are murdering cartoonists. Don't then put all relgions into one basket if only one is problematic.

jr565 said...

Hey Charlie Hebdo. Lets do a thought experiment. Instead of cartoons about Mohammad and Islam, why not do cartoons about Christianity and Jesus. My guess is no one will storm your offices and murder you. Therefore, one of these is not like the other.

Danno said...

In summary, Charlie Hebdo has joined with the cheese-eating surrender monkeys.

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

I think I figured it out. The man with the beard is Father Time, but with a gun instead of a scythe. He's been killing the old year, and he's still at large, and there's no stopping him.

William said...

I think every sane human being knows what they're referring to, and it isn't Freemasonry......I'd prefer a more in your face cartoon, but then I don't have to go work there the next day. It's a dull blade, but it's sharp enough to cut through the bullshit.

n.n said...

Religion is separable from faith is separable from tradition.

Religion is a moral philosophy and describes a behavioral protocol. It is fungible with secular laws that serve the same purpose, but where the former often invites voluntary compliance, the latter is commonly enforced through coercion.

Perhaps the confused state of Charlie can be explained by conflation through projection.

n.n said...

Danno:

Those "monkeys" have joined the Russian coalition to confront the terrorists on their turf and curb the progressive consequences caused by anti-native domestic and foreign policies favored by a minority of Americans and the current administration.

Smilin' Jack said...

"Although Muhammad is not depicted..."

Bullshit. I knew M personally, and that's his spitting image. I hope lots of Moslemists or whatever they are read this blog, and will do the appropriate thing.

Unknown said...

Aleister Crowley. Cult of the Golden Dawn or some such. Had a similar hat. No beard. Just a mid-distance stare.

Unknown said...

Aleister Crowley. Similar hat. Didn't have the beard and sandals, though.

Renée said...

Charlie Hebdo is as anti-Christian as they are anti-Muslim. The eye of providence has been a Christen symbol much longer than it had been associated with Freemasonry, and the triangle-shaped halo represents God the Father or the entire Trinity when they are represented together.

Lucius Septimius said...

Actually, that hat immediately made me think of Aleister Crowley -- there is a famous image of him wearing a triangular hat with the eye in the center.

Renée said...

Charlie Hebdo is as anti-Christian as they are anti-Muslim. The eye of providence has been a Christen symbol much longer than it had been associated with Freemasonry, and the triangle-shaped halo represents God the Father or the entire Trinity when they are represented together.

Anonymous said...

"That's not a Muslim symbol at all as far as I can tell. It has more to do with Freemasons than anything else."

No, it's Catholic. Google "God ziet je" (meaning you can't hide from God).
Charlie Hebdo is just pulling a "Brave Sir Robin" in using an old Catholic pious symbol.
And notice that in islam allah isn't depicted.

Rich Rostrom said...

For those who are wondering about the Eye in the Pyramid and why Masonry is political dynamite in continental Europe...

Masonic groups really have a long history of secrecy and behind-the-scenes political influence in Europe. Their seclusion made them natural bases for revolutionary intrigue in the late 1700s.

I knew a man who grew up in Italy (though he was actually German). When he came to the U.S. and saw Masonic lodge buildings with signs on the front, he was shocked. It was like seeing a sign reading "BLACK HELICOPTER PARKING HERE" or "UFOS THIS WAY".

damikesc said...

Anybody arguing that organized religion was the problem is a lunatic. One specific faith killed them.

pst314 said...

n.n 12:04 PM "It's not religion that has been the cause of mass abortions and rights violations, but rather left-wing ideology that concentrates capital and control in minority hands. The problem with Islam is that it is a universal religion or moral philosophy degraded through marriage to a left-wing ideology.

You are mistaken: The problems with Islam begin with its scriptures and most ancient traditions. It was a religion of robbery and murder from the beginning.
Leftism can make anything good into something bad, or anything bad into something worse, but Islam was evil from the get-go.

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

I already told you people it's Father Time. He kills the old year every January. He will always do this.

Jupiter said...

"I'm just guessing the cartoonist meant to attack religion in general and to be very obviously not about Islam."

You're supposed to be a law professor. Aren't you aware that it is illegal to attack Islam in France? The supreme legislative body of France has declared it a capital crime.