Reflections from a year ago

I have been thinking a great deal over the weekend since the Tunisian attack on tourists. What struck me was that in the case of the attack on the South Carolina Church no mention was made of the fact the gunman believed he was carrying out his religious duty from an interpretation that he had made of " Christianity". no one has demanded that Christians make clear their differences with the gunman....so it seems obvious to me that the same rules should apply to Islamic believers. Comparing IS to main stream Islam would be like comparing the Klu Klux Klan to mainstream Christianity.

This week I am starting to teach a course on Medieval Philosophy and we will be looking at European, Islamic and Jewish Philosophy of the period. In particular we will look at the Iberian period in Spanish history when scholars in each tradition shared ideas, debated and existed in a multicultural , multiethnic and multi religious society. If you are interested we start on Tuesday at 10.30 for eight weeks.. I think its going to be interesting.......I have managed to trace my ancestors back to Granada in Spain so I am a product of this culture. I wonder if anybody is going to tell me to go back there.