Condemn or don’t condemn, either way you will be condemned.

The recent beheading of a journalist by a group claiming to be setting up some barbaric Islamic Caliphate was shocking to say the least.

The killing was brutal and without question something that people of all religions condemn unreservedly.

Yet, in the past week I have spoken to several people who are quick to point out the actions of western forces in the region.

Whilst condemning one action we are quick to point out that there are other parts of the world where some repugnant things take place in the name of freedom and democracy.

There always seems to be another force at fault.

In some sections we simply have people who are not brave enough to speak out when one of their supposed own carries out an act of murder.

Essentially, because they don’t think it will make a vast amount of difference as to how they themselves are perceived.

I was a little concerned that within a day of this latest murder some people were already crying out against some global conspiracy ‘to make Muslims look bad.’

Every time a Muslim does something as shocking like this should we automatically blame the West? Is it always the fault of the West every time we have people carrying out vicious killings in the name of their religion?

Most people are already aware that our foreign policy in the region has lurched from one disaster to the next.

Are we to suggest that if the West really did pull out of the Middle East these kind of criminals would simply disappear? Far from it.

There are elements that will always tend to think that they are doing God’s work when it comes to killing innocent people.

The problem we also have is that we try to find answers among communities who find this whole episode as disturbing as the next person.