Amidst the incredibly depressing news about the murder of the cartoonists in Paris, I found myself unexpectedly laughing out loud when the newsreader described one of the cartoons which caused such offence. Apparently it showed the prophet surrounded by extremists. The prophet’s expression is a bit depressed, with a thought bubble saying something like ‘It’s tough being loved by such jerks’.

It tickled me because all morning a little thread of thought had been running through my brain to the effect that, with supporters like that, who needs enemies. I’m afraid if I was a god or other assorted divine or semi-divine being, and people did screwed-up evil stuff in my name, I would be inclined towards some serious, and carefully-targeted smiting… or at the very very least, some strategically placed boils.