Charlie Hebdo was once a boutique magazine with powerful messages but limited readership. It is now and forever a European beacon.

Last week, we all felt the urge to raise our hands and shout “Je suis Charlie,” in honour of the slain journalists and in defence of those values which the magazine strives, even if in an unorthodox and confrontational manner, to defend. Those same values on which the first French republic was built and which later forged our continent.

We are Europeans. We respect life. We respect the human person. We hold divergent views and celebrate this divergence as strength. This is why we defend the right of a person not only to think differently but also to express those thoughts freely within the confines of our laws.

I was particularly struck by a comment posted about Ahmed Merabet, the Muslim policeman who was killed in cold blood on the pavement outside the offices of Charlie Hebdo. The post read: “Je suis Ahmed. Charlie ridiculed my religion and culture and I died defending his right to do so.” The post echoed Voltaire, the famous French philosopher who wrote “I detest what you write, but I would give my life to make it possible for you to continue to write.”

The tragic events in France did not and should not change who we are and what we believe in. If anything, those criminals who brutally shot and murdered in cold blood have shown us the sad and senseless alternative to life without the values we hold dear and that hold us together.

There are of course other considerations to be taken on board from these criminal acts.

Fundamentalism is finding fertile ground in Europe among people who were born, raised and educated in Europe. We have to ask why this is happening. Why are small segments of our communities abandoning the European way of life and embracing the antithesis of what being European is all about?

This is a war being waged against those who value life and liberty by those who care little about either

The answer is not and cannot be found in religion but rather in the failure of our society to give a sense of purpose to a disenchanted segment of our population. That void is being filled by persons and cults who give a twisted and extreme interpretation of one’s duty to one’s God of choice.

This is not the first time in history that religion has been abused by sick minds. Neither will it be the last. The Nazi armies carried on their belts the inscription Gott Mit Uns, meaning “God is with us” as they decimated millions of Jews and opposing armies. Well, God was not with them as He is not with the misguided jihadis or others who wrongly thought that they were dying or killing in His name.

This is neither a clash between religions nor a clash between continents or civilisations. This is a war, for war it is, that is killing Christians, Muslims, Jews and atheists around the world. This is a war being waged against those who value life and liberty by those who care little about either. From Sydney to Boko Haram, from London to the cities of Mali, no country or city can today safely say that it is immune from this scourge.

Combating this scourge is not going to be easy. It requires a well thought out and incisive reactions by the free world against those terrorists who carry out these acts and those financiers who through their financial support enable these acts.

Some are advocating the tightening of barriers around Europe. This strategy will fail. Building walls is exactly what these extremists want. We will likewise fail if we try and beat them at their own game by trying to become more radical and extremist in our views. If we are to win, then we must strengthen not weaken our diversity; we must be for liberty and liberalism and not against it. We must now, more than ever, walk the talk of what being European is all about. We must remain united in the face of this new threat to our way of life.

Yes, we have a right to be angry, but we must be careful at who and what we are angry about. Europe, in all its diversity, standing side by side on a cold Sunday afternoon in Paris, was a perfect, if token, reaction to those who want Europe to be on its knees. It must be followed up by concrete action that leads to the isolation, capture and elimination of those elements in this world which, in pursuit of their misguided ideals, have lost the meaning and sense of humanity.

Removing leaders is not enough, for these organisations have Medusa-like qualities: more leaders will emerge to replace those that are removed. We need to address the root of the problem by providing a sense of purpose in those areas of the world where there is none, to those desperate people who feel that life has nothing more or better to offer.

These areas are not necessarily in some far-flung corner of the world but could very well be closer than we might like to think.

Let us give them hope before someone else gives them a gun.

Mario de Marco is deputy leader of the Nationalist Party.

After the Paris attacks: is Islam to blame? Times Talk will be discussing the issue tonight at 6.45pm on TVM.