De Omnibus Dubitandum Est.

OK you might want to make yourself a snack, a nice cup of something and sit down before diving into this blog. If you're going to do it all in one hit properly, it could take some time to read the stuff and watch all the stuff. In the light of recent events, and if you have the time to spare, it might be worth watching/ listening to this from Martin Rowson on The Gift of Offence . I don't agree with everything he says, or, perhaps more pertinently, the way he says it. I am also a little disturbed by his apparent preoccupation with faeces, but despite these minor issues, I do think he makes some excellent points. Points like the fact that killing someone is far more offensive than looking at a drawing, no matter how offensive that drawing might be. Also, that we decide to be offended ourselves, and the way in which religion typically chooses to be offended. I suppose this is intrinsic when you hold something sacred . Rowson himself recounts how upset (offended?) he was at ...

Obviously, I am utterly appalled by the violence in Paris. But I am also appalled by the violence in Syria, in Iraq, in Afghanistan. Yes I am cross about the people who have been killed for poking fun at Islam, the gloating gunmen shouting "We have avenged Mohammed" as they make off, but I am also cross about the "collateral damage" and innocent people killed in Muslim countries. War begets war, violence begets violence and despite the fact that, at the time of the 7/7 bombings in London, Tony Blair stated that the violence we are suffering was not "in response to a particular policy", what we see time and time again is Muslims making the claim that it is: This is not an isolated opinion. Twitter is rife with such statements this morning: Muslim friends have tried to tell me before that Muslims like this are not Muslims. Or that Islamic violence is not motivated by religious zeal but by political motives (see here ). Is the Charlie Hebdo atro...