#JeSuisCharlie, you are Charlie, we are all Charlie. But is that such a good thing?

Have you seen the images of people holding a pen or pencil in the air? A sign of protest against the shooting that took place at the headquarters of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, last Wednesday. Twelve people got killed there by two guys with Kalashnikovs. And now we hold up pens and pencils. Our weapons.

It’s a strong and beautiful image. The pen — intelligence and imagination — as a weapon. A symbol of civilization.

At about the same time another symbol started appearing. The hashtag on social media. The #. With a little good will you can see a flag in it, and that is exactly what it is: something to gather behind as a group.

This particular hashtag was #JeSuisCharlie. I am Charlie. And suddenly, we were all Charlie.

As I used the hashtag myself to post a picture on twitter and Instagram and Google+, I started wondering. Who is this Charlie? What kind of guy am I claiming to be? Do I wanna be Charlie? Do I even like Charlie?

Turned out, I actually didn’t…

Charlie Hebdo is a satirical magazine. It publishes mostly jokes and cartoons and they tend to be very crude and insulting. They insult the Islam as well as Christianity and Jews as well as extreme right parties. Charlie will insult anybody. Charlie is a loud mouth and a bit of prick.

If everybody really was a Charlie, as so many — and even I — claimed to be, this world would be a living hell.

Is this the civilization we are defending? Is that what we are using those pencils for? To shout and insult and try to hurt people’s feelings, to mock their believes and convictions?

Well, as much as I dislike it myself, yes. That is exactly what this civilization is.

And you know why, of course. We have all heard the bit about “I don’t agree with what you are saying but I defend your right to say it”.

It is important that people have the right to ridicule the powers that be. If you want to be part of those in power, it is a conditio sine qua non that you will be ruthlessly mocked. Only dictators try to abolish that right.

The critique that some of those jokes may be tasteless, lacking in nuance and insight or even not all that funny is completely besides the point. It is exactly because they are direct and crude that they function as a relief-valve and as an alternative to what could become a more violent reaction of disagreement.

Yes, we need stupid jokes. We need the right to be impolite.

That being said, the last couple of days there suddenly seemed to be this feeling amongst people that making loud jokes and insulting others — being Charlie — not only is a right, but even a duty for all those who defend the freedom of speech and values of liberty.

Whenever someone mentioned they found the cartoons in Charlie Hebdo too insulting, whenever a newspaper chose not to publish such a cartoon on the front page of the Thursday morning paper and whenever an Imam, after having distanced himself and all Muslims from the atrocious acts in Paris, dared to add the opinion that perhaps deliberately polarizing the debate doesn’t do much good for finding a way to peacefully live together, whenever someone added some nuance, they got booed off the stage. They were deemed “not Charlie enough”.

You might feel this is not the right time for nuance. But is it? Isn’t the voice of nuance just as necessary as the cry of outrage at times like these?

Do we really need to become Charlies, all of us? Isn’t it more important to stay who we are and think what we think and, instead of all becoming one, cherish our differences and stand together as individuals?

I want to hear other voices as well. Even now. especially now. Not only the joke, but the carefully balanced opinion. Not only the loud laugh but the silent, hopeful sigh.

Earlier this week, I found this cartoon by French comic artist Joann Sfar on Instagram.

- Imagine if this carnage would provoke a sudden outburst of love.

- You’re dreaming!

Yes, it is hopelessly naive and sweet and anything but Charlie.

But I think we need that just as much. And we can’t afford to lose it.

Especially not now.