After the Attacks: Still Pursuing the Voltaire Revolution (Publico, Portugal)
"In 1741,
a still youthful Voltaire presented for the first time his tragedy Fanaticism
or Mahomet the Prophet, the protagonist of which is an impostor and cruel
messenger. Catholic censors were pleasantly surprised. Voltaire was already a
notorious provocateur, but it now seemed he had returned to good Christian
faith with an attack on infidels - and they let the play go. Right up until the
day a bishop went to see the play and realized that Voltaire was talking about
religion in general and Catholics in particular. … The 18th century was not
just about the idealized Enlightenment, but a revolution of underground,
sensual and satirical ideas - which is still with us today."
In 1741, a still youthful Voltaire presented for the
first time his tragedy Fanaticism or Mahomet
the Prophet, the protagonist of which is an impostor and a cruel messenger.
Catholic censors were pleasantly surprised. Voltaire was already a notorious
provocateur, but it now seemed he had returned to good Christian faith with an
attack on infidels - and they let the play go. Right up until the day a bishop
went to see the play and realized that Voltaire was talking about religion in
general and Catholics in particular (it was true, he admitted later). There was
then an about-face, the play was prohibited and Voltaire, who had already been
imprisoned once and had hated the experience, cooled his heels.
The irony is being remapped by today's censors. In Saudi Arabia, there is
a kind of Muslim Inquisition called the Committee
for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice. Tired of being
persecuted and censored, a blogger named RaifBadawi decided to simply write something like “We are
grateful to the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of
Vice for promoting virtue and preventing vice.” Saudi censors heard through
that ostentatious non-critical statement the mocking laugh of the young blogger
and sentenced him to 50 lashes every week for twenty weeks [video below].
There
is a line that ties the stories of Voltaire and Badawi to the Charlie Hebdo writers killed in Paris
last week, and in a way it also begins in 18th century France. That was not only
the time of Voltaire and the first encyclopedia, or irony as fine as Badawi, but also of ideas conveyed via pornographic books like
ThérèsePhilosophe, which
was the biggest hit of the season, and cheap pamphlets containing ferocious
satire, grotesque caricatures and scandalous intrigues. The
authors of these books and pamplets, often marginalized and destitute, brought
progress to the era through the shock effect. Today, when we think of Charlie Hebdo, we recall the libertarian-left
born in May of 1968, but the tradition is much older. The 18th century was
not just about the idealized Enlightenment, but a revolution of underground,
sensual and satirical ideas - which is still with us today.
Posted By Worldmeets.US
Voltaire didn’t want martyrs, particularly among the
defenders of liberty. Where he could, he advised people to write and then flee,
use a pseudonym and protect themselves. Of course he would have wanted to see
Charb, Cabu, Wolinski, Tignous and all the others who died in the attack on Charlie Hebdo safe and sound. And perhaps
Voltaire taught us the difference between barbarians (etymologically, those
that don’t speak Greek, or “foreigners”) and fanatics (in its original sense,
those who leave the temples inspired by a furious God), and would have wanted
us to fight the latter without repressing the former. “Those that hear voices
are enthusiasts,” he said, “those that kill are fanatics.”
It would be preferable for there to be no fanatics and no
martyrs for freedom. But since there are, it is important to always remember
that love is stronger than hate, as Charlie
Hebdo put on its cover. Because love is a love of laughter and freedom. And
so the hearts of good people around the world were together in Paris yesterday at
the Place de la République - toward which Boulevard
Voltaire leads.
There
is a line that ties the stories of Voltaire and Badawi to the Charlie Hebdo writers killed in Paris
last week, and in a way it also begins in 18th century France. That was not only
the time of Voltaire and the first encyclopedia, or irony as fine as 
