Boreal

Dear James

Will you PLEASE piss off with your advertising!

James ... Ottawa Citizen

Dear James,

You are obviously a thoughtful person for whom ethical behavior is more than just an expression, and that is a good thing. If you will allow me to explain.

When I invite people to visit my website as part of a comment on an article where Islam is mentioned, it is because they will find more information there on the subject under discussion. And yes, like other websites which depend on the goodwill of visitors to survive, guests, if they are so incline, can contribute by purchasing one or more books I have published on Islam, the Koran and the Prophet Muhammad.

From your perspective it must seem that I am taking advantage of a newspaper's solicitation to comment on content by including a link to my website.

It's not that I don't appreciate the view from your standpoint, but I am presumptuous enough to believe that I am performing a public service which the mainstream media cannot, or will no longer perform, mainly out of fear and political correctness.

I also believe that the risk I am taking in inviting strangers to visit my website provides some ethical coverage in this cowering new age where drawing an innocent cartoon, or offering a contrary opinion on a blog about a man who would have us believe he was on speaking terms with God is a death defying act.

Still, it's not like risking a life not yet lived, like the life we ask our young men and women to risk on our behalf containing the enemy of what we profess to believe in.

You may take some comfort in that, with every new visitor the likelihood that one will take exception to something I wrote increases accordingly and may, sooner rather than later, put an end to my modest marketing efforts once and for all.

Bernard