Jaye Marie and Anita Dawes

Pere Lachaise Cemetary, Paris. Image: Tawnywolf 57, deviantart

Liberty. Equality. Fraternity. This is the motto of the French Republic, a nation reeling from the effects of an attack on these very values.

The satirists of Charlie Hebdo, by the very nature of their work, may well have offended a good many people. They did not deserve to die for it. Nor did the police officers defending them and indirectly the right to freedom of thought and speech.

Many of us know the fear of saying the wrong thing, of speaking out of turn and treading on toes…of offending. While we may choose to remain silent for many things, there are times when silence itself may be culpable and condemnation seems the only response we may have.

Sometimes we simply do not know what to say, or how to act… or whether anything we do or say can make any…