Debate rising in France on what speech is truly free
PARIS - Four days after the solidarity march in Paris, Secretary of State John Kerry arrived there, telling reporters he wanted to give the French people "a big hug."
And on his way to the Philippines, Pope Francis spoke about the attacks. He is among a growing group raising questions about the response to them.
Although last week's killings in France launched a massive movement in defense of freedom of expression, it has also launched an inevitable debate on its limits.
In some schools, especially in Paris' poor suburbs with large Muslim populations, some students would not observe last week's minute's silence for the dead cartoonists who worked at Charlie Hebdo.
Very few would say out loud that they deserved to die for drawings perceived as an insult to Islam. But they said what many were thinking ... that the paper should have held back out of respect.
Pope Francis also picked up the theme on his trip to the Phillipines, saying there is a limit to freedom of expression.
The French government is struggling with where to set those limits.
As a case in point, two municipal employees in Lille, France, who also refused to honor the minute of silence were fired from their jobs today. Prompting many here to say "huh -- so much for freedom of expression."
