Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1311619
3 LETTERS & EDITORIAL maltatoday | SUNDAY • 22 NOVEMBER 2020 Mikiel Galea Letters & Clarifications Unwanted pregnancy PROF. Isabel Stabile (Letters, 15 November) goes to great lengths in explaining the development of per- sonhood. Her voluminous statement evades completely the issue of the morality of abortion and conveniently excludes the fact that an act of lethal violence has been committed. The gov- ernment, Church and all decent people should stand up every time that human life is threatened by abortion. To be fair, the Church has always done so. Pre- care of human life and happiness and not their destruction is the just and only legitimate object of anyone expecting a baby. When abortion is performed, the inalienable dignity of human life is de- nied from conception to natural death. The dilemma of unwanted pregnancy should not be met by abortion but by an unfailing determination to respect, pro- tect, love and serve life – every human life, at every stage and in every situation. John Azzopardi Zabbar Charlie Hebdo: free to offend? UNTIL a few years ago the social equa- tion was that believers had a right to believe in God and non-believers had as much a right not to believe. All was well until Charlie Hebdo's offensive, denigrating cartoons and language. Much as it is wrong to impose a be- lief upon someone, it is equally wrong to mock, offend, belittle, denigrate and ridicule, all those who believe. If the State allows this form of public trans- gression, then, is it transgressing the rights of the believers? I believe there is a fundamentally wrong misinterpretation of the phrase "freedom of speech": there is some- thing wrong with a State when it allows a small body of people to vilify all the millions of people who believe in God or His prophet worldwide. Worse still, when the State defends, at any cost, in the name of freedom of speech, the denigration, ridicule, and the public offence of these people. More so, it is when the State publicly announces that it will defend, at any cost, this continu- ous abuse. Emanuel Macron is defending the famous phrase "freedom of speech" to the hilt, but we also know that his pop- ularity is dwindling. Is he doing all this to gain political points and reverse his declining popularity? We all know that politicians would do anything to stay in power. The struggle of different views, that is freedom of speech and to offend, is going to be indefinite or intractable and may eventually lead to worse things happening. France would have to exer- cise reason and logic by accepting that the situation is putting its citizens in jeopardy and can only get worse. Peo- ple keep on being murdered by Muslim extremists. Ultimately, the French State would have to weigh its conscience, ex- ercise it and come up with a resolution. Besides, every democratic country has a duty and obligation to have its citizens live in peaceful co-existence. From what we are presently witnessing, France is failing innocent people out- right. The person on the street doesn't feel safe anymore. So what could be done to bring about again peaceful co-existence among the people? To begin with, a study on 'non-believers' could be conducted to identify whether the Charlie Hebdo magazine/paper is right in doing what it is publishing. Last but not least, it ought to hold a referendum on the subject to find out whether the people of France should continue backing its present beliefs of the phrase "Freedom of Speech" and whether this phrase should have certain limits. The world has changed and so have its people. But, is this change always for the better? France cannot continue to bury its head in the sand and let one party of a few hundred or thousand Charlie Heb- do aficionados to keep on offending and hurting millions of people world- wide. The present equation is simply not right. If France is stating that it would not change its principles and values, then France either doesn't know the correct definition of these words or that the very least principle or value dictates otherwise, simply put, "simple respect of the other" is what brings about a harmonious and a peaceful coexistence. Leonard Schembri Gzira