I hope it’s clear in yesterday’s post that I’m not anti-Muslim, but anti-extremism of any stripe. The documentary showed how the progression from believer to holy crusader and then to hate-filled terrorist must have happened in many religions – that what started as a force for good became twisted into a breeding ground for violence and destruction. We see it clearly in Islam, but God knows, Christianity has had its share of horror, and even now, some of our ultra-religious born again American cousins in the south, like the one that just mailed the ricin poison to Obama, interpret their religion in terms of violence. It’s not enough that I believe, but you must believe too, and I must force you to do so, because you are very wrong and I am very right. 

It gives me pleasure to point out that, through its four thousand years of history, the Jewish religion never turned out extremists who wanted to kill those of other faiths – though that fact, tragically, is murkier now.

Also re the last post, I know I promised not to publish pictures of my grandson. But those are pictures of DISCOVERY. Completely different.

Saturday morning, grey and gloomy, rain predicted again. I woke with the dawn chorus, every bird for miles squawking and chirping at full volume, what the hell are they saying to each other? I want to go to St. Lawrence Market but am afraid of getting caught in the rain on my bike. Tomorrow, one of my favourite days of the year – the Ride for Heart closes down the DVP, and I ride for my own heart beside it, in the country quiet, in the city.