Sacha Baron Cohen: Putting his balls on the line... for you

As The Times reports, Sacha Baron Cohen is being threatened by the Martyr's Brigade - an extremist Islamist sect who are responsible for kidnappings, murders and suicide bombings throughout the Middle East.

Of course, these guys are offended by pretty much anything that happens West of Damascus. Their entire modus operandi consists of working themselves into a lather about hemlines, music, facial hair and free expression in general and dragging along as many people as they can in a mixture of fervour and fear.

But we in the West have developed a knee-jerk cowardice in confronting this attitude. We cringe reflexively at the idea of causing 'offence.' And of course, politeness dictates that this is right in many ways. However, when the offence is not confined to mere affrontedness, but spills over into violent demogoguery then we should be prepared to confront it head on: to prove that our ideals are stronger and that - yes - we will "offend" in the name of free speech.

But examples are few and far between. Even governments cavilled when Danish newspapers ran their cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed. So when Sacha Baron Cohen is prepared to ridicule these guys to their face, on their own turf, we should not merely laugh and applaud, we should stand with him - shoulder to shoulder.