Violence and religion in Paris

The same narratives will repeat themselves as reaction to the deadly attacks on the offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.

• There will be calls for national unity in France and flaming of concern over Muslim immigrants and threats to French values and culture. The latter will be echoed beyond France.
• There will be calls for religious solidarity against violence, and there will also be condemnations of religion, especially Islam, as promoting violence, with mockery of Islam as a religion of peace.
• There will be outrage over and sympathy for victims of terrorism in the heart of Paris, but little talk of violence perpetrated against Muslims or other non-Europeans/North Americans by radical groups. Let alone violence against such populations condoned or carried out by European and North American governments.
• There will be even less informed talk about globalization and the regional economic/political polices that may increase or decrease cultural conflicts. At best just sweeping generalizations about "Islam vs. the West", in which the murderers will stand for "Islam".
• There will absolutely be a flood of images offensive to Islam to demonstrate resistance and defiance of an attempt to curtail freedom of expression.

And in the end, what will have changed?