There are millions of bright, educated, good people worldwide who fervently believe completely different things, worship completely different gods and follow the rules of completely different religions. Some of these religions have followers who interpret the rules that are written in their sacred books or have been decreed by their prophets in a variety of ways. The majority are tolerant of others who believe different things. But all belief systems have their extremists and zealots who choose to interpret texts written in millennia past in ways that are intolerant, absolutist and reflect a belief in a vindictive and vengeful deity rather than a loving and forgiving one.

We have seen an example of this recently in Sudan, where a young Christian woman languishes with her babies in prison, sentenced to death for apostasy, having, as a Christian, refused to convert to Islam. She is also condemned to receive 100 lashes for adultery, as her legal marriage to an American Christian was annulled by the same Sudanese court. It is when incidents like this happen, incidents that to most of us scream injustice, madness and intolerance, that the sane and the good who belong to the religion that is being so hideously contorted by the Sudanese Islamic Court system must stand up and loudly condemn the inhumanity of the treatment of this young mother.

This is one example of hideous injustices meted out to people, and to women in particular, in many areas of the world where religion is allowed to dominate governance of countries.

Like the rest of us, I do not know for certain what happens after this brief time we spend on our planet. I have my own theory. I am, however, as certain as I can be that I am not going to meet up with an all-powerful being who not only approves of, but demands this young lady’s cruel and unspeakable treatment.

It may be Islam that is the focus of this kind of extremism today; but throughout history all religions have been hijacked at some time by the cruel, the empire builders and the zealots who can only be stopped or neutralised by the rest of their number refusing to remain silent. And love and compassion always achieves so much more.

As Edmund Burke said: “All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.”