Lies

The Fundy Post 20: Whatever Happened To....?

The Fundy Post, for those who know not of it, is the "review of the strange world of the Religious Right," which I produce for the NZ Association of Rationalists and Humanists. Under the banner of "we read this crap, so you don't have to," the Fundy Post comments on the activities of the Maxim Institute, the Society for the Promotion of Community Standards and others. It is copied here, for your amusement and edification.


Appeal


Dear Fundy Post reader,



we have never before asked you for help, but a matter of serious concern has arisen and we need your assistance. The problem is simple: the Maxim Institute is in trouble. They are too proud to admit it, but a small note at the bottom of last week's Real Issues indicates that a crisis is looming. This is what it says:

Help support Maxim: We currently need visionary people to partner with us as monthly donors. Will you consider becoming a Maxim Partner? Please call us: 09 627 3261, or email us: maxim@maxim.org.nz and we will send you an AP form. Thank you in anticipation of your valuable support.

I don't think I need to say much more. As a Fundy Post reader, you will realise the seriousness of this problem. If Maxim goes under because of financial difficulties, what will there be to write about? After all, Bishop Tamaki has vanished (reports that The Rapture has already happened, but he was the only man good enough to go straight to Heaven, are exaggerated); the Exclusive Brethren are keeping to themselves; the Society for the Promotion of Community Standards have nothing to say but how beastly the Chief Censor is being towards them; even the spankers at Family Integrity can only wail about being mocked on National Radio. We need Maxim, more than they need us. They have given us so much in the past; now is the time to give something back.

Whilst you are at it, if you have any latent prejudices, seething resentments or uninformed opinions, don't keep them to yourself; send them to Maxim as well. Maxim has always had enough of these but a Peak Bile crisis may be just around the corner. For several years now, production has far exceeded supply. Having scapegoated gays, unmarried people, post modernists, neo-marxists, immigrants and many others, Maxim has few targets left. Indeed, in the previous Real Issues, they were reduced to complaining about news readers. The situation is truly dire.

Remember, without Maxim, the prospects for mockery look dismal. A publication like the Fundy Post can only keep going if there are bigots at which we can point and laugh. So dig deep. Please, please, give whatever you can. You don't need to be visionary; you just need cash. Don't do it for the children. Do it for satire.

Thank you in anticipation of your valuable support.

Where are they now?


If you think I am joking, take a look at The People of Maxim page on Maxim's website. Some familiar names are missing. John McNeil has gone and his blog, Canary in the Mine has not been updated since 22nd December. Scott McMurray, Communications Director, has gone, as have several minor parts in the Maxim drama; all trace of Mr Logan has been removed, of course. Others have come in their place. Has Restructuring taken place? Where are these people? What is going on?

Lack of Evidence

It is a lame title I know, but I told you things were bad. This is not the first time Maxim has asked for money. They have been doing it all the while. In fact, if you go to their website, you will find a personal message from Greg Fleming, inviting you to join him and his pals in building a better New Zealand. In return for becoming a Maxim Partner, you will receive a complementary copy of Maxim's Evidence journal each quarter.

Not any more. According to a cursory note tucked away on the publications page, Evidence is no more. The Spring 2005 edition was the last.

I for one will miss it. I never bought a copy, but I always read it. I shall miss the stock photographs of worried middle-class people, whose imaginary marriages were always under threat from homosexualists and the Neo-Marxist State. I shall miss the Philosophy For Dummies articles, which condemned all those heathen Greeks and lauded the godly thinkers ("Augustine is not just a philosopher, he's a Saint!" or something similar). I shall miss the various whinings of Maxim's Teenage FBI, the interns and staffers who always had a heartfelt personal story about how the world is so unfair to the sort of student who wears a suit to lectures.

In particular, I was hoping to to hear more from Tiffany Scrimshaw (yes, really), the intern who was looking forward to a "buffet of body treatment" with her two best girlfriends, but was disappointed when they "were lured away by the promise of better entertainment elsewhere," The fact that the alternative entertainment involved sex and booze, while Ms Scrimshaw would probably dish out lashings of Edmund Burke with the body rubs, was probably the tipping point for both friends. The Spring Issue of Evidence is available at all good bookstores but you can save your money and read Tiffany's gripe on the Maxim site.

Ruth is stranger than Fiction


The good news for Maxim is that they have had something published. Since that little matter with Mr Logan, we have not read much from Maxim in the papers. However, Ruth Porter managed to get an article published a few months ago, in the Education Weekly of 25th October 2005. Here is an excerpt from "What the next three years may hold:"

Despite attempts to avoid haemorrhaging schools to alternative examinations systems, including the PPTA's opposition to the Cambridge International Examinations, the latest stats show that, as long as the NCEA remains in its current form, the haemorrhaging is inevitable.

Parse this sentence at your peril. Our crack team of Semioticians has been working day and night in a futile attempt to understand what Ms Porter means. It is a bit rum that a body which claims to be so concerned about education standards has such a loose grip on grammar, syntax and all that jazz.

Never mind. Perhaps the winner of this year's Maxim Essay Contest, David Griffiths, will be able to translate. His winning entry can be downloaded as a PDF. Mr Griffiths is bothered that it is alright to make fun of religion. He is particularly vexed that "the Auckland Public Library displays a poster of cricketer Daniel Vettori reading a copy of The Da Vinci Code," and not because the book is a load of rubbish. No, it is an attack on Faith. Perhaps somebody at Maxim's Centre for Education needs to explain the difference between fact and fiction; maybe Paul Henderson whose "special interest is in hermeneutics"

Familiar Oddities


The title comes from an article in Real Issues 190, but it will do for my purposes. In said article, a Maxim staffer writes "have you ever stopped to consider why Don Brash's speeches delivered at Orewa, merit the attendance of major news outlets? A strange and implicit understanding now seems to exist that these speeches are more significant than the dozens of others given by Dr Brash throughout the year."

Perhaps that is because they are more significant than the others. Dr Brash said so. He gives a speech at Orewa Rotary Club every January in which he makes major policy statements and offends his colleagues. Doesn't everyone know that? Obviously not.

Perhaps what the staffer is trying to do is downplay the significance of Dr Brash's most recent speech, in which he stressed the values of a "liberal tolerant secular society" Maxim must feel a little hurt about that. Having done all that work to get the Christian vote to turn out for National, with its NZ Votes website and its political forums, Maxim finds that Dr Brash has not changed at all. He is still a godless heathen.

In another article in the same edition of Real Issues, Maxim gets very ornery about Dr Brash going on to say that New Zealand is a "society that embraces the Western Enlightenment ideals of personal liberty, private property and rationality as the basis of decision-making." He really has not been listening, has he? For Maxim, the Enlightenment (you know, that thing which gave us electricity and ended slavery) is anathema. What's more, Dr Brash failed to mention tradition and heritage, of the Judaeo-Christian kind. Maxim takes up the task of educating the Good Doctor about the state of things. We are living in a Postmodern age "where truth is relative rather than universal and reality is little more than one's perspective. As a consequence, the world is stripped of its meaning, making it difficult for people to meaningfully dialogue together about the world." Difficult especially for Maxim, which struggles both to meaningfully dialogue and to form a grammatically correct sentence.
A Critique of Politically Correct Reason

It can't be easy for them. Years of trying to get people to realise that the real enemy is post-modernism, political correctness and Neo-Marxism, and yet even the leader of the Tories will not pay attention. At least Maxim can take some comfort that Dr Brash's sidekick, the Eradicator Wayne Mapp, has been listening. In his speech to the Rotary Club of Eastern Hutt (are these speeches in some way franchised to Rotary clubs?) Dr Mapp expounded on "Why the Debate on Political Correctness Matters" and promised to develop a "substantial paper" on this theme in the next few months.

The Eradicator says "Much of the writing on political correctness refers to its Marxist origins. It was a term used by Leninists in the Soviet Union of the 1920s to denote the correct way to think about politics." I suspect the writing to which he refers is Maxim's own publication "Political Correctness and the Theoretical Struggle" by Dr Frank Ellis, a man so politically incorrect that he is prepared to share a platform with the people in the pointy hoods with the fiery crosses. Not content to be just the PC Finder General, Dr Mapp aims to add to the scholarly corpus on this topic. He revealed to the Eastern Hutt Rotarians that he has discerned the Categories of Political Correctness; we might in future think of him as the Kant of PC.

However, he tells us, we do not need theory to recognise PC, because "like pornography, we know it when we see it."

One wonders what other publications Dr Mapp has been reading.






The Fundy Post is written by Paul Litterick, NZARH Spokesman and is a publication of the NZARH. The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent the views of all members of the NZARH.

The Fundy Post is available by email subscription. Write to paul@nzarh.org.nz
If you want to join the NZARH (go on, you know you want to), write to heathen@nzarh.org.nz

Tangled Bank 47: This is your final boarding call...

Good Evening Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome aboard this flight TB47. The Air Kete Were crew would like to wish you an enjoyable flight. Before we depart, the crew would like to bring to your attention today's inflight entertainment...

Parasite loving passengers will find a discussion by Coturnix on the modus operandus of Ampulex compressa, the Emerald Cockroach Wasp in the seat pocket in front of them, together with an interview by Complex Medium with the parasitologist Robert Desowitz.

Bird lovers among us are in for a special treat during the flight: an account of the recently rediscovered Lost Birds of Paradise of West Papua, prepared by Scientist, Interrupted, as well as an article on the Eurasian Collared Dove from Mike at 10000 Birds

Archaelogist Martin Rundkvist provides three articles for your reading pleasure: a description of An Old Church located over the site of an old Swedish pagan feasting house, determined using ground radar; a discussion on the real function of ancient barrows, and an account of human life on the bottom of the North Sea - 9000 years ago.

The more medically minded will have noticed a number of enticing options on our inflight menu:

A Concerned Scientist presents an appetiser on Stem Cell research, followed up by a discussion on dropping cancer rates. Alternatively, we will be offering Circadiana's Seasonal Affective Disorder with mineral water. Before choosing your option, however, we would advise you to be aware of Centrerion's link between obesity and portion sizes.

Regular passengers will be aware of the link between flying and deep vein thrombosis, and the need for preventative exercises. We would also like refer you to The Other Bloke's post discussing the link between bilingualism and lower rates of Alzheimer's Disease. Accordingly you will find German, Spanish and Chinese dictionaries under your seats, next to the life jackets.

Lazy Journalists will appreciate this post from Political Calculations, allowing them to calculate any statistics for a given time period, in order to prevent any embarassing, published screw ups.

The Lancelet posts Part Three in a three-part series on the concept of "Species" and its manipulation by creationists. Parts One and Two can be found here and here.

Galactic Interactions muses on the concept of Cosmological Fine Tuning, while Anthonares explains why we shouldn't be running the Terrestrial Planet Finder through NASA in its current form.

Frequent fliers with Kete Were Air will be familiar with the impressive work of Pharyngula, and today's piece on the evolution of a polyphenism continues that tradition.

The more philosophical of our passengers may not be entirely satisfied by any of the entertainment options mentioned. As a result, we offer a wide range of philosophical pieces for you: Reb Chaim offers the provocatively-titled "Sin or Die", Ruminating Dude questions How Ethical are Scientists?, while B and B ponders the conundrum of politically active scientists. If you're a youngest child, you'll enjoy Cognitive Daily's post suggesting what you always suspected: you may actually be the smartest of your siblings.

Evolgen takes issue with those who take issue with 'retarded geneticists', Shallow Thoughts discusses the joy of Radioactive Radon in the home, which, along with The Biotech Weblog's report on Phase 3 of clinical trials of an anti-HIV gel among Africal Women is bound to tickle the interest of those interested in the fascinatingly obscure.

Our own crew member, Xavier, would like to share with you his ramblings on Global Warming. Humour him. Go on, you know you want to...

If you're after just a little harmless fun, the Kete Were crew can suggest The Scientific Activist's humourous and scientific take on Valentines Day. This is a far cry from The SA's previous work, exposing the mouthy 24 year old would be censor of NASA George Deutsch as not actually being a journalist at all. The Skwib takes the mickey out of Thomas Malthus, economist, influencer of Darwin and prude extraordinaire, it would seem.

Lovers of the simple things in life will appreciate A Darwinian Cryptic Crossword brought to you by Richard Carter. Due to inflight safety regulations on pointy things, pencils are available only from your friendly Kete Were crew.

We hope you enjoy your flight today, and look forward to seeing you on Flight TB48 in two week's time, departing from Aetiology International Airport on 1 March. Bookings can be made by emailing host@tangledbank.net

Happy Darwin Day!

On this day, February 12, in 1809 a little boy was born in Shrewsbury, England, who would one day write a book (or several, as it turned out) explaining the theory that underpins all of modern biology...

Charles Darwin - the shy, reclusive, persistent, possibly hypochondriac, conflict-avoiding son of doctor, would be clergyman, and amateur geologist, who also discovered that barnacles are actually crustaceans.

Happy 197th Birthday!

UPDATE: YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST!AJ Chesswas, a.k.a. Allan, a.k.a. Agri-Christian is departing the cyber-narcissitico-blogo-sphere. I swear, I SWEAR! WE HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. Adieu, Allan, It was fun while it lasted, even though I personally disagree with almost every syllable you write. I had a read of Allan's post recounting The Great AJ Chesswas Conceptual Art Project, and couldn't help but get a smile on my dial. Aaahh...those were the days. Some people enjoyed it, others didn't, some even mystically attribute the winding down of About Town to The Project, an inference that is entirely incorrect, but nonetheless speaks volumes to its infamy. Allan, you are a legend, even if wrong most of the time. Good night, and Good Luck.

Truth, Beauty

I read in The Herald and heard on National Radio about a "lost world" (in fact, previously unfound) of animals and plants that had been discovered in New Guinea.

What the scientists found was extraordinary and beautiful. How they went about finding what they found was also extraordinary and beautiful, as was their ability to distinguish what they had found from what was already known. After all, the beauty of Science is its ability to make distinction, as well as to classify and to decide on the basis of those classifications. In doing so, it describes the beauty of Nature.

And then I speculated, Rationalist that I am and ever so mindful of how Science has been disdained by those who claim to have a better judgement, whether the scientists who found this 'garden of Eden' were in a race with the Creation Scientists (Old Earth and Young Earth) or the Intelligent Design 'theorists' to find and classify these previously unknown species.

Of course they were not: real Science gets on with the work of doing Science; bogus 'science' takes a back seat and criticises. There have been no discoveries made by Creation Scientists, Young or Old, or by Intelligent Designists. Not once, not ever. These bogus scientists have nothing to add, although they will do their best to insinuate that their opinions have some bearing on what has been found. Of course, they are lying.

As a medical student (who died at a ridiculously young age from Consumption) once said:

Beauty is truth, truth beauty, - that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.

Snakes and Lizards: Venom

I was blown away by an article I found in Nature this week - an article that has generally escaped the attention of bloggers, or so I thought. It turns out that I am a bit behind the mark - despite only being published in the print version of Nature this week, the article, it seems, is so last year, having appeared at Carl Zimmer's blog The Loom and at Afarensis also, with some discussion.

Nevertheless, whenever the article was published, it seriously impressed me - not so much because of its implications for the evolution of venom systems in snakes and lizards (although there is plenty of that), but more so because of the staggering amount of work that went into drawing some very strong, very detailed conclusions; More so because the research, analysis and communication represents good, nay excellent science.

So many of the articles published in journals (particularly the brevia) discuss the results of a single experiment with a bioactive compound, or a field study of an animal; perhaps a play back experiment in bird song, or a test of olfactory identification by petrels, as two examples I have seen. While these experiments are surely elegant, subtle and well designed, they are inherently limited by their restricted scopes. Too often their validity rests upon their compatibility with the results from other disciplines, and the effect of other variables that may not have been tested concurrently. Their results are statistically significant, for sure, and their conclusions undoubtedly sound, but they are in many cases hamstrung in their subsequent applicability to other phenomena, because the original methodology and execution lacked the robustness of a cross disciplinary approach.

The Nature article is produced by 14 authors, chief among them a chap named Dr Bryan Fry from the Australian Venom Research Unit in Melbourne, and is a sterling example of the power of an holistic, cross-disciplinary approach to resolving scientific questions.

Essentially what the article details is an investigation into the evolution of venom production and delivery in the Squamata, the subgroup of diapsid 'reptiles' containing lizards and snakes. More than that, though, the research challenges a number of major assumptions that we hold about these animals; assumptions about evolutionary relationships, assumptions about which lineages actually produce venom and, perhaps most interestingly, assumptions about how at least one lineage was originally thought to have hunted prey. All of these challenges, these conclusions, gain their power from the combination of extensive research across the disciplines of molecular phylogenetics, histology, molecular modelling, molecular evolution and cDNA library construction, toxicology and pharmacology, all against the backdrop of paleaontological reconstructions of the animals.

The most recent consensus of relationships (phylogeny) between the lineages of the Squamata clade is shown below on the left (from the very excellent Tree Of Life Website). The phylogenetic tree printed in Fry's article is on the right.

[Click to Enlarge]

As you can see, there is a major reshuffling of many of the lineages. Most interestingly, the relationship of the snakes appears to have been confidently resolved, with the phylogram placing them in a single clade with the Iguania and the [Helodermatidae + Anguidae + Varandidae] clade, (collectively the three are known as the Anguimorpha). The new phylogeny also changes the place of the Iguania clade (which includes the Iguana lizards), from being the most ancestral or basal lineage of the squamates to one of the most derived. It also means that Iguanas and anguimorph lizards are more closely related to snakes than they are to other lizards. Lets be clear: this is quite a fundamental shift.

Our understanding of venom systems in the squamates (until this research) basically held that only the Serpentes (snakes) and Helodermatidae (Gila Monster) had venom delivery systems, and that the evolution of venom delivery systems in the Serpentes essentially underscored their massive diversification - it was what made them so successfula as a group of reptiles. If this conclusion were true, then according to either of the phylogenies above, the evolution of these systems happened independently - that is, by convergent evolutionary processes. Analysising the systems would make this a pretty reasonable conclusion: snakes deliver their venom via specialised glands in the upper jaw (maxilla), whereas Gila Monsters produce theirs via a gland on their lower jaw (mandible) which then delivers the venom along grooves in the teeth.

Now comes the beauty of the research: The researchers showed that other squamates possessed gland that produced proteins in a similar fashion; the Iguanas (both upper and lower glands) and the Varanids (lower). 'Libraries' were constructed of the DNA coding for all the active compounds coming from all the glands, upper and lower. All members of the 'Venom' group - the Snakes, the Komodos and Monitors and the Iguanas - were analysed, and the nature of the proteins, and the relationships between them, were investigated.

The article shows that the 'ancestral' state appears to have been a delivery system that incorporated both the upper and lower jaw bones. 9 of the original toxin proteins are today found in both the snakes and lizards, 2 of which are only found in the upper jaw glands of Snakes and Iguanas. It appears that, after the development of these 9 proteins, the early snakes split off and underwent a massive evolution - essentially ceasing production of toxins in the lower jaw (except for a few species), but inventing at least 16 other toxins that they delivered through the upper jaw. The next split was the Iguanians, retaining the ancestral condition both upper and lower jaw venom delivery systems. The remaining Anguimorph lizards went the other way - losing the ability to produce toxin in the upper jaw, but inventing at least 3 new toxins to be delivered through the lower jaw.

These three toxins were originally only thought to have been produced by the Gila monster's group, the Helodermatidae, but the article shows that one of the toxins, PLA2 Type III, is also found in the Varanidae - a group that includes the Komodo Dragon, and the Goanna of Australia.

I'm skimming over a great deal here - work that would have gone into deciphering the relationships between toxin molecules is MASSIVE, work that analysed tissue samples, molecule structure, bioactivity and physical properties, not to mention trying to put all of the molecules together in an evolutionary sense. It is a breathtaking amount of research to do, but the picture it produces is worth it.

We can now see that the evolution of venom systems in snakes and lizards was not an entirely independent process - that many of the conditions which preceded modern the modern systems developed before the first snakes even appeared. We can see that, in each of the lineages, subsequent evolution took its course in a way that led us to believe they were independent, that each lineage 'co-opted' only a part of the ancestral state, producing what appear to be unique systems.

The new picture also has major implications for the predatory behaviour one of the lineages which we thought we understood, and about which we could have been horribly wrong: the lineage of the Komodo Dragon, the Goanna and the extinct Megalania prisca

Conventional wisdom has it that the Varanidae hunt by infection, that is, that the lizards deliver a bite to their prey, injecting it with massive amounts of bacteria (over 50 strains!) that fester in its gums. They wait until the animal is overcome by blood loss, infection and shock and then go in for the kill. It turns out that Fry and his team don't think this is a very good explanation at all - a 'red herring' if you will. Previous work on varanid bites, and the speed at which prey items (or humans!) react to the bite has indicated the presence of an active biological compound (such as venom) rather than a slow, passive bacterial infection.

The article shows that the toxins identified in varanid bites are consistent with the effects seen in human victims, including respiratory problems, intense pain, muscle weakness and increased and irregular heart rates. It appears that there is more to this story, and it definitely needs to be investigated further.

Interestingly enough, this little discovery also influences, or at least affects our ability to accept, a possible model of predatory behaviour in a related but very dead animal: Tyrannosaurus rex. Some paleontologists have attempted to show that Tyrannosaurus jaw, teeth and gum structure was very similar to that of the Komodo Dragon, and that it was possible T. rex may also have hunted by causing infectious bites. If it turns out that the Komodo Dragon doesn't even do that, and instead delivers a venomous bite, we may have to throw that particular explanation out the window.

While I respect Dr Fry's expertise on this matter, I would certainly caution against throwing out the "Infectious Bite" explanation altogether. While it may be that the Varanidae do deliver a bioactive venom in their bites, it is also clear that they do have exceptionally filthy mouths. The two explanations are not mutually exclusive, and I would argue that any bite that ensures death, be it immediately or in a week's time, is likely to be a very useful adaptation.

The article seems small and unassuming, but it's conclusions, and the work behind them, are phenomenal. By combining a whole range of seemingly distinct disciplines, the researchers have been able to produce a robust, profound and clear explanation about some of the most interesting animals and the way that they operate in their own worlds. It's this kind of work that makes me itch to do research. It's this kind of thing that makes me love science and the most profound way, and shows me why there is nothing else I want to do with my life.

And just because it's put me in such a good mood, here is a copy of the Wedge Strategy produced by the Discovery Institute, on how to get Intelligent Design in public schools, Reproduced from the Seattle Weekly, via Pharyngula, the best science blog I've read...Just click to enlarge

Have a Happy Waitangi Day

Terrorism: in the eye of the beholder?

Cartoons, Butt Plugs and Tolerance

It's been somewhat of a posting hiatus at kete were for a wee while now; things seem to go quiet when I go away, it would seem. Not to worry! There's nothing like a Graveyard shift in a very quiet call centre to allow for a nice long catch up post...


I've been quite bemused by the Danish Islamic cartoon furore that has erupted over the last week or so. Perhaps the most surreal aspect of the incident is the fact that it's the Danish that have incurred the wrath of Islam. If I had to predict the flash point of a global cultural conflict between fundamentalist jihadist Islamists and the Western Hegemon it probably wouldn't have involved a small country, essentially as offensive as vanilla icecream and puppy dogs. Even Danish Salami is boring.

Of course, Denmark represents something that is perhaps even more offensive to the hardened jihadist than The Great Satan: secularism. As evil GwB and the invasion of the Yanqui imperialists into The Holy Lands may be perceived to be, at least America believes in something, right? The stable, western, liberal, secular democracies of Continental Europe, and to some extent the United Kingdom, with their stubborn refusal to unite the power of faith with the power of the State surely represent more of an anathema to Islamism than the largest Christian Theocracy of all time.

The whole situation is incredibly worrying because it has illustrated two disturbing trends. Firstly, the absolutely vile, violent and visceral reaction of islamists to any commentary that questions, satirises, mocks and...shock horror...offends their religion. Even more worrying is the handwringing of supposed liberals and the spineless concessions to a paradigm that is alien to all things liberalism holds dear: pluralism, tolerance and freedom.

Below are four images. They depict a Baby Jesus Butt Plug, one of the offending Danish cartoons, a picture of Charles Darwin's head on a Monkey's body and the world with the baubles of the United States and Israel falling and shattering through an hourglass, produced by the Islamic Republic of Iran.

They are all, I'm sure, offensive to some people. As a student of evolutionary biology, I find the Darwin picture mildly offensive. But they are all acceptable images to produce and view in a secular democracy such as ours, or Denmark's or, at a stretch, the United States'. It is a right of a free individual to produce images or say what he or she pleases, as long as whatever is produced or spoken remains within the bounds of libel and/or defamation law. It is the right of a newspaper to publish them. It is the right of individuals to get angry and rant and froth when they see them, and it is the right of the rest of us to tell them to belt up and stop being so precious.

It all seems rather callous and uncaring, doesn't it? A bit of a free for all of ideas and offence being caused, left, right and centre. Well, what do you expect in a society where people exist with almost complete freedom to do and say as they please? Bunny rabbits and fluffy cuddles? Of course, with those rights come the responsibilities to use them wisely. It may not have been a very good idea of the Danish Newspaper to publish them. Similarly, the Dom Post today may not have exercised a great deal of wisdom in their decision to publish the Danish cartoons, but it was their right to do so, regardless of their motivation. I personally think it was just silly sensationalism, but it's their call, just as it is the call of a Muslim Dairy Owner not to sell the Dominion Post on that day. Kofi Annan has said that freedom of the press should not be an excuse for the press to offend religions. This in itself is true; the press should exercise discretion on whether or not what they're publishing, broadcasting or printing really is worth it - that's a responsibility that comes with the freedom to publish that material in the first place. But we also have a responsibility to accept that in a free democracy, where we have the right to say and do essentially what we please, somewhere along the line, someone is going to say something that offends us. It really is a small price to pay.

Chris Carter's response to the Dominion Post's decision was typical from such a feel good portfolio as Ethnic Affairs, labelling the move as "undermining the nation's reputation of tolerance". I personally don't think that that's a very logical interpretation. Tolerance is not censorship motivated solely by maintaining the illusion of a happy united nation Tolerance is more the measure of how we, and the Islamic community in New Zealand specifically, react to the publishing of these cartoons. Tolerance does not mean either forced acceptance of ideas as being equally valid as your own, nor does it mean banning things which might be offensive to some people. Tolerance means that, while you may not like what other people think or say, and you may rant and rave about it as much as you like, you have no right to stop them thinking or saying it. I personally can't stand what Brian Tamaki says or thinks, and I rail against his ignorant homophobia. But it's his right to say it, and I have to accept that as much as it pains me. Tolerance shouldn't be a pleasant experience, but it's a vital artefact of, and safeguard for individual freedoms.

The response of many Islamist groups around the world really does underscore how divorced these people (and by these people I mean fundamentalist islamists, not muslims in general) are from the ideas of democracy. Attacking embassies, chanting 'death to Denmark', threatening violence against western states - the hallmarks of those blinded by raw, unadulterated, self-righteous faith. They have all the respect for democracy as an abortion clinic bomber. This behaviour is not justified, it can not be tolerated, and it is important for secular democracies to make clear in no uncertain terms that they won't have a bar of it.

The response of hand-wringing apologists around the world also shows how perilous our grip on freedom could become. For too long, many secular states around the world have either pandered to foreign religious groups in order to appease and prevent unrest in their own countries - introducing (or at least trying to) hate speech laws that seriously undermine individual freedoms in the interests of 'racial harmony', or imposing dogmatic secular laws that do nothing more than foster resentment and militant fundamentalism among religious and ethnic communities. France, by a stroke of luck available only to the French, has the uncomfortable combination of both a law prohibiting inciting racial hatred and a law that prohibits the wearing of head-dresses in schools - both are anachronistic, dogmatic and don't do a great deal in securing what they intended to - a free, safe and tolerant France.

In our own country, the breath taking hypocritical nature of many Christian groups shows that it's not only hardline islamists that have yet to learn the nuances of a secular democracy.

So many Christian groups railed against the investigations of the 2002 Labour Administration into hate speech law in NZ, labelling it both 'PC Madness' (the phrase du jour) and an assault of free speech, religious freedoms and Christian values. In some ways, at least some of these arguments hold water - individuals have a right to associate and speak freely, even if they're saying that homosexuals shouldn't marry.

What doesn't hold water, though, was that at the very same time, many of these exact same groups were calling for the banning of films (that is, curtailing others' individual freedoms) such as Baise Moi and Irreversible, or more recently, calling for the banning of an exhibition featuring human bodies. According to these people, individual freedoms are only worth protecting if they protect your personal opinion. Other's opinions, it seems, (especially those you explicitly disagree with) are worth banning in the name of public good. The parallels are worrying.

We live in interesting times indeed.