Gunmen opened fire at a French satire magazine Wednesday, killing 12. The writers and cartoonists were guilty of poking fun at just about everything, from the politics of the day, to social mores, to religion.

Religion. All kinds of religion.

No one was immune, and the humor was not gentle. Boko Haram’s rape victims scream for French authorities to leave their welfare checks alone; Bibi Netanyahu is portrayed with a swastika arm band and a tiny mustache while bombing Gaza back to the stone age; Pope John Paul II is drawn blind to child rape by priests.

The humor was not gentle — it was barbed and poisonous and tasteless, much of the time. But it was humor.

No one should have to die because of a joke, not even a particularly irreverent joke.

In historic Christianity and Judaism, and other religions as well, there were times when making a snide comment or even merely disagreeing with some tenet of doctrine could bring the Inquisition to your door, or get you stoned outside the city walls, or get you burned at the stake. Very few religions were never above using their own brand of belief to bludgeon those holding even minor differences in points of view.

But most of that behavior ultimately died out as the religions matured and had more to protect. So while Catholics and Protestants and Jews may have sniffed at the least glowing of their portrayals in Charlie’s pages, and perhaps even wrote a letter of complaint to the editor from time to time, it didn’t go further than that.

In the 21st century, neither politician nor priest turn up at the offices of a newspaper or magazine and calmly gun 12 people to death, while screaming how great their god is, even when they’re being particularly provoking. Maybe they’ve found a better way to make their points. Or maybe they’ve learned that ignoring a provocation typically does more than responding to one.

While most Muslims are peaceloving and would never do such a thing, those who would and do are unfortunately the ones who make page one.

It is harder and harder, as journalists, as editorialists, as fellow Charlie Hebdos, to defend Islam — even if the religion is being tainted by extreme terrorists — especially when the peace-loving Muslims are unnaturally silent in the wake of such an atrocity, or indeed try to excuse it. For example, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, former prime minister of Malaysia, said Thursday, “Do they need to make fun of Prophet Muhammad even when they know it hurts Muslims? We respect their religion and they must respect ours.”

Respect doesn’t lead someone into a building to murder a dozen people.

Nor does it have the desired effect.

Almost every newspaper and magazine and online blog in the world stands with Charlie Hebdo today. The murder of our colleagues in France is likely to focus our attention on the misbehavior of certain people who claim to be Muslims, not frighten us away from reporting on it.

We are Charlie Hebdo.