Evendays

One of the English classes I would teach about once a month was for advanced speakers and dealt with “finding your perfect partner”. Students were to rate the importance of the following themes for compatibility between lovers: disparity in education / economic levels, differences in religious preference, dissimilarity of pastimes, and smoking / non-smoking. I failed to keep track of the results of the informal survey, but cannot remember a time when students answered that belief/unbelief in Jesus as the Son of God was a bigger issue than diverse hobbies; that trust in God outranked smoking preferences. In fact, the general consensus was, “Education doesn’t matter. Faith even less. But don’t dare complain about my cigarettes after a morning out on the ski slopes.” I deplore the violence and threats committed in recent weeks by some Muslims in some countries and the political motives behind the violence. But my point is this: the European press seems incapable of comprehending their capacity to insult people in matters as “unimportant” as faith. They may admit that their expressions are, at times, bad taste or even inappropriate, but insist that it’s really no big deal and that those who are offended should worry about issues of greater importance… Like the effects of second-hand smoke.

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