I am not a muslim, nor do I belong to any religious organisation, I am a Scottish grandmother, nothing more, nothing less. Why is it then that I can perfectly understand the outrage of the Islamic world at these undoubtedly provocative but nevertheless overwhelmingly stupid and insulting cartoons when it seems to me that far too many people are ignorant of the concept of respect and the violation that these cartoons represent. I know the violent are in the minority, whether they belong to Islam, Christianity or to any other religion or be they simple fools, murderers, robbers and the evil selfish are throughout the World in equal measure. It is time to end ignorance and learn that whatever a man believes in is irrelevant in all practical terms and a private matter of personal choice, for at the end of the day he is just that, a man, no more and no less. It doesn't matter whether rich or poor, we all end up in the same place (there, I've upset half a dozen religions now), we all have but a short time on this plane and if we waste that time insulting our neighbours because they have a few differences from us then we truly do humankind a great dis-service. The differences between myself and any other grandmother anywhere in the World are superficial, we all want the same things, peace in which our grandchildren can grow healthily to their fullest potential and a chance for them to fulfill that potential. In this simplicity we can surely all agree and it matters not one bit what our daily habits are, the long term aims we share are far more important and are the same in Scotland or in Palestine, in Iraq, Iran or Australia, in China or in Sudan. We are all one people, brothers and sisters whose value is in our very diversity. Please, all sides in this potential time-bomb situation, take a step back and look at the rest of the World. Through the Internet and other media we can come together and do what it seems no government ever can, reach out in friendship, and in the spirit of co-operation we can build peace. In order to do so requires only one thing, respect. Just as our mothers laid down boundaries to behaviour for us when we were small, we must understand that there are boundaries to taste and decency otherwise where will it end - in tears I have no doubt. Freedom comes with responsibilities in the same way as adulthood comes with responsibilities. Anyone who would believe that just because you are an adult you can do whatever you like is ignorant, so too anyone who would argue that 'freedom of speech' gives you the right to insult or slander whoever he likes would, in any country, sooner or later see the inside of a prison cell or a psychiatric ward. We all have a resposibility to each other and to generations of children who have yet to be born and in order to fulfill that we should be aiming to leave the World a better place than when we entered it if we possibly can. Try and get along together, please.