Controversial Magazine Charlie Hebdo Depicts God as Kalashnikov-Carrying Killer
The magazine's cover for the anniversary edition commemorating the attacks one year ago depicts an angry, violent God and contains the headline (translated): "One year later, the assassin is still on the run".
The Vatican's daily newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, has criticized the cover with an unsigned editorial titled “Manipulated faith.” “The French weekly once again forgets what religious leaders of every affinity have been repeating for some time, to reject violence in the name of religion,” and "Using God to justify hatred is an authentic blasphemy, as Pope Francis repeatedly said." “The choice of Charlie Hebdo shows the sad paradox of a world increasingly more careful of being ‘politically correct,’ to the point of being almost ridiculous … But that doesn’t want to recognize and respect the faith in God of every believer, whichever religion they practice,” L’Osservatore Romano added. According to CNN, "Charlie Hebdo's head of publication, who goes by the nickname of Riss, stands by the illustration. 'It is a caricature representing the symbolic figure of God,' he explains. 'To us, it's the very idea of God that may have killed our friends a year ago. So we wanted to widen our vision of things. Faith is not always peaceful. Maybe we should learn to live with a little less of God.'" Sources: CNN (Photo Credit); National Catholic Reporter