This is where we started out. It is very hard to maintain respect and tolerance when people take absolutist, inflexible, extreme positions. Where these affect themselves only, we can afford the combination of awe, mild horror and slightly patronising tolerance that is often accorded to people like ultra- Orthodox Jews or the Amish. When their beliefs affect others, it depends on how far they are prepared to go in pursuit of what they believe.

Perhaps a similar case is that of the British animal rights activists. They raise many good points about our treatment of animals, but many of them see all animal experimentation as a crime, which they have used to justify intimidation, damage to property, desecration and attempted murder.

If the only possible compromise is total capitulation, yes, it pays to know how they think, and yes, respect them like you respect a dangerous animal... but to tolerate?

If respect is to be mutual, there must be some possibility of shared ground.