For Clarification

A good friend of mine asked why it appeared that I have an obsession with radical Islam.  Because he is a good friend and I value his opinion I thought it merited some reflection on my part.

My reflection was shattered with the events in Paris last week.

Our western ideals have been developed over the past 500 years.  It was not always pretty.  The West's conquest of overseas colonies was perpetrated by soldiers going hand in hand with priests spreading Christianity under the banner of God and Country.

But those same cultures brought about the American and French Revolutions and with them the march of secularism.

And it was precisely the development of secularism, drawing a radical distinction between public and private life and more importantly the relegation of the religious to the private sphere which stopped the internecine warfare within Christianity removing one of the great causes of war and strife in Europe.

This secularism provided the basis for the West's pursuit of freedom- the freedom to believe whatever you wish in private, while still adhering to the rules and regulations of the public sphere. It tried to implement a social contract which allowed the individual many freedoms and rights, while demanding that the individual still remain subject to the rule of law and the requirements of the state that provides for that freedom.

These freedoms were enshrined in our democratic institutions in the form of our Constitutions, Basic Law Books or Parliamentary Procedures.

Democracy means that the majority determines who runs the State but the method of checks and balances ensures that the changes any one party can institute are within the remit of the State.

It took the Judeo/Christian world 500 years to reach our present state.  As mentioned, it hasn't always been pretty.  But I have no intention to sit idly by and watch our hard fought freedoms-despite the fact that the concept of Freedom of Speech has been bastardized in any number of legal defenses-and allow religious fanatics to run rampant over our values.

I appreciate that the cartoons of Charlie Habdo were often crude and intentionally offensive.  But the Charlie Hebdo's of the world are what provide me with my way of life.  And I like my way of life.

If Islam still has 500 years of development to go through before it too can embrace a secular society that is a saddening thought.  But it does not mean I have to subject myself to it.

I choose to live in a secular society, exercising my freedoms within the structures of the State.

If anyone, regardless of race, creed or colour wishes to live in a non-secular state, be my guest.  But don't try and impose your rules and regulations on me in my state.

I would maintain that radical Islam has every intention to try and make me live according to their rules regulations.

I object to that, and for the record, I am equally adverse to any other religious group which attempts to coerce me into their belief system.