Anyone of a religious conviction that cannot have a sense of humour about that religion or is not able to endure criticism of that religion obviously has deep seated insecurity about their beliefs. It is called projection.

Eamon, Sydney, Australia

I think it's fair to say most faiths are guilty of a sense of humour failure, from the Catholic Church to Judaism to Islam. If only people would accept that by living in a secular, democratic society which prides itself on providing freedom of speech to its people, ANY faith is a fair target for satire and lampoon (and the more po-faced and indignant your stance on that fact, the more ripe a target you are). Provided it does not cross over into religious hatred and bigotry (or GENUINE offence has been caused), put up or shut up - we're all entitled to express our opinions, and we should all be accepting of the fact that others our entitled to express their opinions about us.

Thom James, Auckland, NZ

"Do not judge Islam by the actions of a number of inviduals or groups." Bukit Chandan, Malaysia, Malaysia

Well
1. Do not judge Islam by the deeds of prophet Muhammad
2. Do not judge Islam by the contents of Quran
3. Do not judge Islam by the Sharia law
4. Do not judge Islam by the preaches of Imams
5. Do not judge Islam by the actions of Moslems who claims to follow pp 1.-4.
6. Do not judge Islam by what is come about in the Islamic countries
7. Do not judge Islam by what moslem immigrants are commitng in your country.
Be fair to minorities.
Just remeber - what you see in the news is not the REAL Islam. The REAL Islam is what moslems tell you in the talk-show. Relax and understand - Islam is the religion of peace. Otherwise you will be afraid to use tomorrow tube or coach to go to work.

Leiba Bronstein, Cologne, Germany

Isn't the entire country too afraid of Islam? I remember when I was young and muslims were just quiet and contributive members of society. It wasn't that long ago either. Now their the spawn of Satan. It's all ridiculous hype. I feel sorry for decent Muslims in Britain, where is their voice? I'm certain that they must feel that their religion is just being used.

judy, Liverpool, England

The trouble is, coming from Ben Elton, this is all a bit rich. He was one the 'left-leaning' (i.e far left) comedians of the 1980's who pioneered PC comedy as an alternative to the likes of Bernard Manning etc who had the courage to make jokes about anything and anybody. Bernard and co were relegated to the clubs and it became difficult to make jokes about anything un-PC for fear of being called racist/ intolerant - thanks to Ben Elton and co. Now that he's got a big house and is worried about his children's futures - suddenly he wants the BBC to be less PC! He's right, but coming from him just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.....

Paul Williams, Egham, UK

I'm for equal opportunity lampooning. Of course, this is theoretical. I'm a university professor and I am even scared of watching what I say about Islam in front of my students, even if it's a class in which I critique other religions from an intellectual stance. It's a situation that has really gotten out of hand thanks to radical Islamofascists. It's up to moderate Muslims to speak out against these people. If not, they're complicit. Encountering offense is part of living in a free world. Radical Islam wishes to stanch the voices of liberal democracy. Faith without fear!

Nia , New York, NY

We all know that if you tell jokes about Jews then that is Anti- Semitism; if you tell jokes about Muslims then that is Islamophobia; but if you tell jokes about Christians then that is free speech.

kerry livermore, London, England

I expect there will be one of the many 'moderate muslims' along soon to agree with Ben. Yep, any minute now, we'll hear the voice of reason...any minute now...

Colin Soames, London,

Bukit,

It is all very well to tell us not to judge Islam by the actions of a few individuals but the fact of the matter is that on one opinion poll after another in the UK, a huge proportion of Muslims support or sympathise with these terrorists. I have yet to hear of outraged Muslims demonstrating against suicide bombers whereas they happily turn out to condemn and threaten a novelist like Rushdie or a cartoonist. The image of Islam has is created by the actions or lack of actions of the majority of Muslims.

william, Northwood,

It isn't only the BBC that's afraid of Islam, it's every institution in the country. And it isn't always the misguided or well-intended sense of respect that shuts them up, it's outright fear of what will happen if you offend the hair-trigger sensitivity of the political Islamists. In short, they've got us over a barrel.

Garry Henderson, London, UK

Do not be afraid of Islam. Islam is a religion of peace, love and harmony. Islam propagates religious tolerance. So, every religion should respect each other always. Promote healthy discussions and dialogues to resolve issues.

Do not judge Islam by the actions of a number of inviduals or groups. To be fair, really investigate objectively the root causes as to why unwanted incidents happen.

Best Regards.........

Bukit Chandan, Malaysia, Malaysia

A refreshing article.
We inherit morality and ethics from the best of the current principal religions and that is a good thing.
As to whether we need a god as well, that is a personal thing - I realised when I was about fourteen years old that I knew there are no gods.
That was 49 years ago.

Ian, Solihull, UK

Paul Berman takes an entire article ("Who's afraid of Tariq Ramadan?") to make the same point: the political left is scared senseless of Islam and jihadists. Hardly a group to entrust a country to.

Marshall Onellion, Stoughton, USA/WI

How come you guys never make any anti-Hinduism or anti-Judaism jokes. Why do you have to pick on Islam, which has a negative view among the publics.

Christianity is an exception because it is religion of majority in UK, such as Hinduism is an exception in India or Islam is an exception in Turkey. It is okay to make jokes about your culture or religion.

People get offended when when society pick on minority's culture or religion.

tarikur, Boston, USA