The recent controversy on Charlie Hebdo depicting the Islamic Prophet has raised sharp debate around the world on the limits of freedom of speech and media.

Globally, the brutal attack on Charles Hebdo and its staff on January 7 has been widely condemned. As the new editor of this weekly magazine stated in the wake of this tragedy, "a cartoon doesn't kill," it is totally unacceptable to suppress the freedom of media by conducting terrorist slaughter. It is perfectly understandable that not all would appreciate the style of Charles Hebdo that may offer humor disregarding religious sensitivity. However, this doesn't justify the use of bloodshed to unleash one's dissatisfaction.

With this in mind, the massive parade in Paris on January 12th, featuring more than 40 world leaders, has sent a strong signal that the international community is behind France. The global solidarity as shown in Paris and elsewhere tells that the world shall not be intimidated by extremism, which resorts to terrorist means. In this spirit, Parisians, Europeans and many of their supporters in the other parts of the world have voiced, "We are all Charlie."

By making such a statement, one demonstrates his or her political belief in democracy, freedom of media and expression in particular. This is particularly true for many French and Europeans as they are convinced of political secularism. To them religion shall yield to democracy and no one should use religious reason to suppress the freedom and liberty of a society, which they hold dear in their heart.t is interesting to note that even though the U.S. is sympathetic of the French cultural pluralism and in full support of the French crack down of terrorism and radicalism, America has some nuanced but important differences with France and Europe in theory and practice. On the one hand, the U.S. views itself as the world champion of democracy and freedom, but it has placed an emphasis on religious tolerance, especially not to touch upon where religious sensitivities are at stake. On the other, Americans tend to be sensitive in operating their own media industry, especially when sarcasm or humor is involved.

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