I got up this morning to the then breaking news that two gunmen had been shot dead after they had attacked a conference about cartoons of the prophet Mohammed. The story has me in quite a curious position: at first, I thought ”what did they expect?” Not that I condone such violence, but the conference attendees were being deliberately inflammatory. On the other hand, given my overall stance on religion, part of me thinks I should support the right to lampoon it. After all, one of my favourite films is Life of Brian; what is the difference between the Python classic p-take on christianity and these cartoons?

Yet there is a difference – an important one. Python was a group of middle class guys making a film about the absurdity of religion in general. It was made by men born into the christian world who poked fun at christianity. From what I hear, this conference was a deliberate attack by one group on another: it was organised by american right-wingers, and people like gert vilders were involved. It was entirely provocative. Thus, while I support the lampooning of religion, and don’t think any religion should be out of bounds, this conference troubles me.

Yet I’m not totally sure what to think, or where I stand. Religion is absurd and deserves criticism, but I also think this conference was unwise. No doubt, too, that the people attending were the type of american conservatives who object to people taking the pee out of christianity. Indeed, earlier I was struck by the absurd thought that it might have been some kind of inside job organised by the conference to gain attention and stir up tension, but not even the christian right could be that mad. Then again, what muslim would do such a thing, knowing full well it would play into the right’s hands? Either way it’s very troubling, and will probably only divide communities even further. This is a long way from python and the rereading of preexisting orthodoxies I cherish. There is no looking on the bright side, only the hatred caused by religious difference.