Hello and welcome come in it is lovely to see you all here again. The fires are lit the cushions are plumped up and we have the coffee and tea on the go and the cakes and sweets are all set out. Paul and his guests are all here and they are enjoying the warmth , food and drinks. We have tea and coffee from all over the world not to mention all our cakes and muffins and as Paul calls them sweets! Every single one is calorie free! Plus of course we now have spirits and liquors to warm the coldest of you.

If we were having Coffee: I would tell you how excited I am to be joining Just Gene’o and Diana’s “If we were having coffee” weekend at and also at . I am very proud to be part of his weekend as I have been doing a Sunday Coffee get together for a good while now and my good friend Paul Curran has be a very welcome guest poster having his own coffee get together alongside mine! Check Gene’O’s, If we were having coffee weekend , out at https://parttimemonster.wordpress.com/2015/01/10/if-we-were-having-coffee-the-inaugural-weekend-coffee-share/

I cannot Tweet my coffee post Gene’O because I do not Tweetin …a step to far, so far for me! 🙂

IF WE WERE HAVING COFFEE: THE INAUGURAL WEEKEND COFFEE SHARE

If we were having Coffee: I would offer you the beverage of your choice and of course some of our out of this world cakes, pastries all calorie free.

Then on a sober note I would have to say how saddened I have been by this last weeks acts of Terror in France. I have no doubt you are all as shocked as I am. I wrote a post on the attack on the Charlie Hebdo Office in Paris . I wrote my feeling on the subject in my post Je Suis Charlie , sadly the blood shed did not end there as the murders had accomplices who started up diversionary tactics you can read about these here and the end of the siege involving the two remaining men from the original massacre . here .

If we were having Coffee: I would have to say how saddened I am by the world, the human race that is. We are no better than we were first crawling and creeping on a virgin planet. So far we have learned nothing. Like spoiled children we wage war, hurt each other, some have it all some nothing but we have not learned to love, share or even be kind! We have ruined our planet and left an awful legacy to our children and grandchildren.

If we were having Coffee: I would have to say sorry I am getting a tad heavy! Okay ..No more lets have some cake and maybe a liqueur Coffee we can make any type you desire!

If we were having coffee: I would have to ask are you still keeping up your New Years Resolutions? Well I started back at the gym last Monday and my friend and I have signed up for extra ‘Core Lessons’ and we have paid for them so that is an incentive ! So I have been at the gym everyday this week….. eek! Also Friday my Pilates classes started and Saturday morning my usual Core Class started after a three week Christmas break! To be honest I am sitting here typing and aching all over! But I must just think of the good it will do me.

The Husband is still not back up to par but he did have a larger operation than expected, and he did insist that we all still went away f0r Christmas when really he would of done better to stay home and rest. I am not complaining I have really enjoyed looking after him. It is a way of showing him how much I appreciate everything he did for me when I came out of hospital and had to learn to walk again.

If we were having coffee: I would tell you all to make yourselves at home go and chat to Paul’s guest and to Gene’O’s and Diana’s friends too. I look forward to chatting with you all!

This Month January is Just Jot It January run by LindaGHill Well I am always up for challenge and I have done JusJoJan before and survived so I am doing it again this month/year. It means I must jot out a post every day of this month!……………….. eek! It is a twofold blessing not only do have to use my grey matter I get to meet lots of new bloggers! I hope some of them will come and join us at our Sunday morning get together’s.

IF WE WERE HAVING COFFEE: I would say lets go and see what Paul’s guest are up to lets all mix and have fun. I would ask you if you would like

another cuppa, or another cake . ! If we were having Coffee Original idea from http://parttimemonster.wordpress.com/

And of course the

IF WE WERE HAVING COFFEE: THE INAUGURAL WEEKEND COFFEE SHARE

over at Part Time Monster and Gene’O’s

Coffee and Cakes

Can We Be the Bigger Person?

(or are we slaves of our principles?)

Welcome to Willow’s weekly coffee and tea garden. My name is Paul, I’ll be your barista today and I’m happy to be here once again. Please come in and make yourself comfortable. Willow has plumped the cushions and started a cozy fire so we can warm ourselves while we have a cuppa and chat. As usual, I’d be pleased to bring a pot of whatever beverage you prefer – we have a wide range of teas and coffees to satisfy our world-wide readership. We can relax with a cuppa and calorie free electronic sweets while we discuss the affairs of the week both personal and/or worldwide. How has your week been?

The horror of the terrorist killings in France this week has thrown a pall over international news. My heart and prayers go out to all those who have been hurt or killed and their families and friends. I abhor this behaviour on the part of those terrorists who are hiding behind the label of “Muslim”, a religion that is, at its heart, a study of peace. That said, I won’t elaborate as there has been ample coverage in the media and I am sure many are overloaded with the images and pain. As a non-practicing Christian I have some questions, though, and I wonder if any of you have wondered the same. Given that the Muslim religion makes it clear that it is forbidden to create an image of Mohammed, and the terrorists have made it clear that they will attack anyone who does, then why do people continue to create those images?

The examples that I have seen of those who have created images mocking Mohammed, have done so for purposes of creating controversy while being paid to make profits for companies. I don’t understand why they feel the need to mock the beliefs of a religious group. Is it the money they are paid to do their “jobs”? Is that the reason? Is it a hatred of Muslims that drives the need to produce cartoons of Mohammed? Those producing these images know before they do, that what they are doing is abhorrent to about a billion people. They know that there is a faction out there who has sworn to kill anyone who does this. What is the driving reason to produce those images? It is certainly not helping anyone else, other than providing a target for derision for those who enjoy belittling others.

Would you like a refill of your cuppa? A sweet perhaps?

Many of the world’s first nations media and leaders are standing solid on freedom of expression or freedom of speech as an inalienable right. That may be so but at what point does that turn into the promulgation of hatred? And even if one believes freedom of speech is inalienable, why would anyone do something that they are basically guaranteed will result in their death? As an old truck driver, I am reminded of a common adage that many drivers live: it is far better to go home alive than it is to be right and dead. That is used daily by virtually every driver out there. How many times do we avoid accidents when we have the right, legally, to kill someone? Answer: many times a day. There is a higher order of understanding above the rules- and that is “be safe”. Human life and life in general, is more valuable than any principle. The rules were made for Man but Man was not made for the rules.

Many will argue that if the Muslims are living in our country, then they should obey our rules. And really, that is a good perspective, generally. However there is an even higher perspective and that is: can we accommodate their beliefs without damage or harm to anyone in our current society? Are we big enough to look at ourselves through their eyes and understand what is important to them? By doing so, we can solve many of the confrontations and adversarial views. There are some things that we cannot accept for it would lead to the death or harm to others – such as Sharia Law. But there are other things, such as refraining from producing images of Mohammed, that are easy to do and do not reduce us one whit.

I do not believe that principles should have a higher importance than human life. And that goes for the Muslim terrorists who are attacking journalists and cartoonists. It also applies to us – we do not need to make images of Mohammed – it is not a valid argument, in my mind, that the Freedom of Speech trumps human life. In fact, this has been proven many times in our own courts – that the safety of people comes before any principle. The law is made to keep people safe, when it is doing otherwise, then we make an exception to that law. There is a legal argument in some jurisdictions that that which is necessary (saves lives for instance) is legal regardless of the written law. Freedom of Speech is NOT inalienable, human safety is inalienable.

I have to give credit for today’s topic to Doobster over at Mindful Digressions http://mindfuldigressions.com/2015/01/09/good-old-american-censorship-redux/ .He did a post that triggered these thoughts and although we do not agree, he has the right to his opinion– Ha!

Personally my week has been rather uneventful – hiding inside from the bone numbing cold of -34 earlier in the week. Other than that, not much exciting. How about you? Anything exciting in your world this week?

That’s about all we have room for this week, so it’s time to settle in with another cuppa and watch the fire. Sweets anyone? Please join me in thanking Willow for her invitation to tea. We are all honored that you dropped by today to visit. I hope you’ve enjoyed yourself and the conversation and please look around at Willow’s other posts while you’re here. Willow is over there serving her guests and chatting it up. Let’s go see how she is today. Have a great week. We look forward to seeing you back here for tea again next week.

And of course the