Fossero almeno in rima baciata

Thou bel ami, thou Pardoner," he said,
"Tell us some mirth of japes right anon."
"It shall be done," quoth he, "by Saint Ronion.
But first," quoth he, "here at this ale-stake
I will both drink, and biten on a cake."
But right anon the gentles gan to cry,
"Nay, let him tell us of no ribaldry.
Tell us some moral thing, that we may lear
Some wit, and thenne will we gladly hear."
"I grant y-wis," quoth he; "but I must think
Upon some honest thing while that I drink."

Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales

La nave affonda, e il comandante è un codardo, mentre il capitano un eroe. No, non è vero: il comandante è un povero cristo — cosa avremmo fatto noialtri? — e quel capitano è un vero gradasso. E via dicendo. 

Passano i secoli eppure, come i pellegrini sulla strada per la cattedrale di Canterbury, ci piace sempre ascoltare una favola con la morale. Ne discettiamo, e speriamo di trarvi un insegnamento; sempre ci sarà un venditore d'indulgenze che di questa speranza saprà trarne profitto.

How many silly things are done, in the name of good manners

Massimo Pigliucci on Pastor Terry Jones, his act of book burning, and the murders in Afghanistan:

In and of itself, burning a book is a morally neutral act. Why would this change because some misguided individuals think book burning is worth the death penalty? And why is it that so many have automatically assumed the reaction to be reasonable or respectable? To use an example nearer to some of us, recall when PZ Myers desecrated a communion wafer. If some Christian was offended, and went on to murder the closest atheist, would we really blame Myers? Is his offense any different than Jones’?

I think I know why many people want to turn around and blame Jones: there is a deep-seated belief among many that blasphemy is wrong no matter what. This means any reaction to blasphemy is less wrong, and perhaps even excused, compared to the blasphemous offense itself.

Which immediately reminded me of this quote from the best movie ever:

Kurtz: We train young men to drop fire on people, but their commanders won't allow them to write "fuck" on their airplanes because it's obscene!