Tensions are running high following the massacre at the offices of Charlie Hebdo in Paris on Wednesday, and that is exactly how it should be. The correct, human response to an atrocity of this nature is revulsion and deep moral anger.
But far from precluding rational understanding, such anger should cause us to demand sensible, productive analysis and to brush aside comments from politicians or pundits that do not live up to the seriousness of the moment.
The “clash of civilizations” has become a popularized frame that is wheeled out whenever an attack by Islamic extremists is carried out against a Western target. It casts a democratic, liberal West as being locked in an epic struggle with a backward and violently intolerant Muslim world. According to this narrative, the West, which treasures freedom of speech, has this week come under attack from an Islamic culture that refuses to accept any instance of what it regards as blasphemy.
–
Follow us on Twitter @CNNOpinion.
Join us on Facebook.com/CNNOpinion.
