16th May:

History is littered with examples of people who have reacted to persecution by going on the offensive.

From Jewish prosecutors chasing Octogenarian Nazis across South America to the Church of Scientology pushing their cameras in the faces of investigative journalists, defence is sometimes the best form of attack. Or is it?

Many religions advocate turning the other cheek. Others prefer to espouse the virtues of working up a good thirst for vengeance, getting tooled-up and hunting down the offending party like the dog they undeniably are.

The BBC programme Panorama’s recent investigation into the aforementioned Church of Scientology was refreshing not for the information that it uncovered about the Church itself, but for those moments during the programme when the presenter, a professional journalist, got extremely narked and blew his top. Regrettable his conduct may have been, but I think we’ve all found ourselves at some point or another talking to someone whose sheer smug conviction that they are right and unwillingness to let you even express your point of view, let alone consider its merits, made us want to slap them. And lo, so it was when John Sweeney met Scientology PR man Tommy Davis.

Rampant atheists tend to regard deeply religious people as being somehow soft in the head – afflicted with some kind of mental weakness and using religious belief as a compensatory crutch. This view is extreme and equally as patronising as the opposite end of the spectrum where religious zealots harangue ignorant unbelievers and damn them to hell. Or press a detonator and cover them in chapatti flour before running off red-faced.

Either way, people of opposing views tend to eventually figure out that peaceful co-existence requires dialogue, compromise and compassion. It's just a shame that sometimes it takes years of armed conflict and thousands of broken families to get there.