THE brutal and cold-blooded murder of twelve persons including the Editor of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris deserves the strongest condemnation of all.

Regardless of the motives by the perpetrators, such actions can only be seen as an attack on freedom of expression and certainly have no place in a free and civilised world.

There is a saying that the pen is mightier than the sword. Ideas must be countered by ideas and not by resort to brute force and ignorance. In the market place of ideas, let a million ideas bloom!

Sociologists have long debunked the concept of cultural superiority. There is no culture that is superior to any other since every culture is relevant and appropriate to the society in which it exists at any given point in time.

This is why bigotry, fanaticism and ethnocentrism, in whatever shape or form, is so dangerous to society. It closes the mind to new ideas and thinking and sees the entire world in a fixed, pre-determined and unchanging way.

We need to accept that there is no single or universal truth when it comes to beliefs, religious or otherwise, and be tolerant and open to new ideas even if they may differ from what we embrace.

HYDAR ALLY