(CNN)Tensions are running high following the massacre at the offices of Charlie Hebdo in Paris on Wednesday, and that is exactly how it should be. The correct, human response to an atrocity of this nature is revulsion and deep moral anger. Far from precluding rational understanding, such anger should cause us to demand sensible, productive analysis and to brush aside comments from politicians or pundits that do not live up to the seriousness of the moment. The "clash of civilizations" has become a popularized frame that is wheeled out whenever an attack by Islamic extremists is carried out against a Western target. It casts a democratic, liberal West as being locked in an epic struggle with a backward and violently intolerant Muslim world. According to this narrative, the West, which treasures freedom of speech, has this week come under attack from an Islamic culture that refuses to accept any instance of what it regards as blasphemy.
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'Clash of civilizations' line wheeled out when Islamic extremists attack Western target is sweeping generalization, David Wearing says
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These two-dimensional representations do nothing to help us make sense of what is actually going on, Wearing writes
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What is needed is for Muslim and Western democrats to stand together against extremism and violence in all its forms, he says
Take the idea that freedom of speech is a @placeholder value.