Seventeen dead in Paris, two thousand dead in Northern Nigeria, fifty abducted in Cameroon and that was just in the last two weeks. Most of the victims of this Islamist violence are Muslims. This arises from the same root, the inadequate engagement of Islam with modernity. There is a clue in the name of the Nigerian terrorists, Boko Haram, Western education is forbidden.
Without rigorous historic analysis of the sacred text of Islam, its traditions and the history of its prophet, there will always be groups arising in its name to perpetrate such outrages. From these atrocities peaceable Muslims will be unable to distance themselves.
Christianity and Judaism have passed through this process of historic analysis with varying conclusions. It was painful, contested but necessary. For Islam the process of historic analysis is at an early stage.
This is a task for the academics, not in the first place for the cartoonists.
Dale Barton, Bradford
I would like to add one or two comments to the thousands already made about the terrible events in Paris.
No right is absolute: they all carry responsibilities. There are libel and slander laws to protect us. No one has the right to incite racial or religious hatred
And, finally, the remark made by a very young person who was sporting a badge declaring Je suis Catholique. "Catholic" she said, "means 'universal' - embracing all of us. I recognise only one race and that is the human race. That is what my religion has taught me". Out of the mouth of babes...
Dr Frances Dawbarn, Lancaster
I was brought up as a Catholic by my mother who always insisted that if somebody said nasty things to you then you should just ignore them, you should not hit them. My mother used to quote Jesus’ teaching that you should turn the other cheek. This principle was also taught to me by the priest at our local church and by teachers at the Catholic school which I attended. The idea of being non-violent has served me well and seems to me to be entirely logical. However the Pope has now suggested that it is reasonable to hit people who insult you [The Tablet, 15 January].
This is a very important issue of policy for the Catholic church. Please would you let me know what position The Tablet will be taking on this subject in its next addition? Has the Pope revealed that he is a thug or is the Catholic Church now preaching that violence to others is an acceptable response to insults?
Simon Johnson, by email
We are told most of France's 5m Muslims are affected by poverty. Faith is one of the few consolations allowed to the poor. It can't be much comfort to French Muslims that Christians were mocked by Bolsheviks and Jews by Nazis.
Millions more Muslims in the Middle East have seen their natural resource, oil, extracted to make life more comfortable for the developed world while most of them remain impoverished. There is nothing to be said for the thirst for revenge felt by a few. But meeting it mainly with force majeure makes all of us morally the poorer.
Willy Slavin, by email
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