We stand against it.

Against people like this, we stand up and put ourselves in front of the bullets. We put courage and society before ourselves and our families. We state simply that these attacks do not, will not, and can not phase us, and that these people who do these attacks are, and will remain weak and ignored.

In a perfect world, at least.

Would I be willing to put my life on the line? I honestly do not know. I hope so, because the risk of death to myself and my family is far lesser than the risk we would be at if one person with a gun could silence an entire society.

While there may be a day that we are attacked for speaking our minds, the chances are similar to that of being hit by lightning. However, if we all stay quiet, the chances are 100% of things going very wrong for all of us.

Even then, what about those who are known for saying such things, like the comic writers were. Do we protect them with police, guard them endlessly from an invisible threat? Should we assume that these people should be brave enough to stand for what they want when the chances of them being attacked are far higher? Do we protect them to offset that, or do we protect them to send a message? Is that message that we fear the radicals? Or is it that we are so scared of them that we will hide in a crowd and behind armed men?

From my point of view, I know that I can stand up and say that these radicals are horrible people, that I can make Mohammed jokes, and I can say what I want. I'm not so sure about those people who are actually heard by others.

I say we stand behind those who do keep talking, and we as a society offer our support, we give them the protection they need to keep speaking, if necessary. It doesn't show that we are scared of the terrorists, but instead that we are willing to fight them and the things they stand for. If they want to come out in the open and speak, they can, and we will allow them to. Until then, they are the ones hiding in the crowds, we are the crowd they fear enough to attempt to silence.