It’s wise, I think, for those who profess belief in religious faith to be cautious about expressing outrage whenever they feel that this is being mocked. In Scotland , there is enough evidence of real hostility to traditional Christian values in civic life without seeking to be offended by imagery or opinions that merely challenge those principles. Overlooking my workspace at home there is a framed black and white photograph, taken in the 1980s, of an Afghan rebel warrior standing on top of a mountain with a rocket-launcher (complete with said missile).
It was taken by my esteemed friend, the war correspondent David Pratt, and does what all good photographs do: it transports you to a place and time and then sparks your imagination about the circumstances in which it was taken. It occupies a large space on my wall, not because I may have sympathy for this young Afghan’s cause or have a fetish for Middle East battle paraphernalia. It’s simply a magnificent photograph that evokes the struggles of the Afghan people against one of the many countries and empires which have sought to conquer them.
When I first observed some of the opening sequences in Friday’s night opening ceremony for the Paris Olympics, it became clear that very influential people had decided that mocking some of Christianity’s most sacred beliefs should be a central theme. Yet, I refrained from making any trite, smartass comments about it on social media lest I become guilty of seeing demons where none.