A week completely overshadowed by the massacre in Paris…
We rarely do very much by way of “Editorial”; but this week we can hardly let the tragic events in Paris go unremarked. If they tell us anything – apart, that is, from the seemingly-inexhaustible capacity of people to behave with extreme cruelty – they are, perhaps, a salutary reminder of the danger of religious fanaticism. The Muslim Council of Great Britain was quick to issue an unequivocal statement condemning the killings:
“The attacks once again in Paris are horrific and abhorrent, and we condemn this violence in the strongest possible terms … There is nothing Islamic about such people and their actions are evil, and outside the boundaries set by our faith.”
Nor is there anything Christian about an Islamophobic response.
Hate-speech and Article 10
Racist attacks are by no means one way; and last week the ECtHR struck a blow for sanity by declaring inadmissible a claim under Article 10 (freedom of expression) about the conviction of a French comedian, Dieudonné M’Bala M’Bala, for an incident during one of his shows.