Je suis Charlie

On a plane on route to the Philippines yesterday, Pope Francis told reporters "you can't provoke, you can't insult the faith of others, you can't make fun of faith." In the war between freedom of expression and freedom of religion, in his opinion religion wins. Obviously, as head of a church with 1.2 billion followers, he has a vested interest in religion coming out on top.

As a human beings, we too have a vested interest in who wins this war, because we have to live on this planet with every other human being. Life would be better for all if we could all get along. Pope Francis has a point, if no one makes fun of religions, then no one can do harm in defense of religion. But it also implies that religion is above contempt, of ridicule, when much of it is deserving of contempt, of ridicule. 

When you interject yourself within the policy-making of governments with the intent of making doctrine-based legislation, your religion is worthy of ridicule.

When you interject yourself into the education system with the intent of making doctrine-based curriculum, your religion is worthy of ridicule. 

When you deem half of your followers unworthy of any and all positions of authority within its institution, your religion is deserving of ridicule.

When you deny women - regardless of faith - autonomy over their own bodies, and by extension or by intent, their own lives, your religion is deserving of ridicule.

When you deny groups of people - regardless of faith - the same basic rights all others enjoy, your religion is deserving of ridicule.

When you deny life-saving, or in some cases, life-ending methods to people, or to deny the decision-making of science all together - regardless of faith - because it conflicts with long held beliefs from an ancient and unscientific culture, your religion is deserving of ridicule.

And most certainly, when you lay any expectation of violence at the act of insulting religion, your religion is deserving of ridicule.

Because even if you fixed all of these wrongs, religion is still a vastly interpretable instrument that by its very nature should never be above scrutiny, discussion, criticism, and yes, ridicule.

The same holy books that brings solace to believers are the same holy books that believers use to deny people rights and to incite and to engage in violence.

We are a population of seven billion people of different religions. Regardless of the faith to which a person subscribes, the majority of the world believes something else entirely and, in most cases, to exclusivity.

It is not a world in which we can allow any cow to be sacred.