Every now and again the local civic society in my town raises funds by holding a second hand book sale in the town hall. It is a gruesome affair, where the thin veneer of civilisation is ripped off and men and women revert to the brutish state of nature. The doors open at 10.00am, by which time the predators have already gathered. Darwinian selection ensures that only the fittest and the most aggressive specimens get through the door first.
It is good to be clear about how the world really is, rather than how we would like it to be. One easy mistake to make is to conflate radical Islam with Islam. Islam does not have a moderate form and an extreme form. Indeed, neither do Christianity or Judaism. All three religions are large social structures with deep roots in history and with a large wealth of inherited experience and tradition. They are big projects which have evolved to meet the needs of their adherents, and like all human creations they have high points and low points, triumphs and tragedies, heroes and villains. As a secular atheist I am inclined to be skeptical of the claims of organised religion, but it is what it is and it isn’t entirely bad. It offers many people a community to belong to, and that is no small thing and not something I would deprive them of.
