I received an email from V., who apologised immediately for it when I saw her. I hadn't even opened it at that stage. She said she didn't think about it before she sent it on.
It was a forwarded jpeg of Osama Bin Laden photoshoped to look like he was buggering George W Bush. It was ugly, not funny and I simply couldn't understand it as a joke or anything. It had an Amnesty International link on it so I assumed it was something to do with them.
V.tells me the link is the address of the guy who originally sent the email. He works for Amnesty International and apparently holds militant views.
When she told me this, the blood rushed into my brain: what is a militant doing working for that ultra-Liberal organisation, Amnesty International? Do they know about him? do they, in fact, condone his views? How does V. know, in fact how is she friends with, this militant guy? I was confused and angry and it made me understand her differently, until I was able to get a grip on myself and ask her about it. I guess I suddenly saw her as someone who sympathises with Islamic militancy. But she doesn't, she just has a friend who does.
It's confusing. I still haven't done anything with the jpeg. I don't know what to do with it. I want to tell someone about it, but I don't want them to overeact. I guess I fear this man I've never met, and I guess I think he should be sacked from working somewhere like Amnesty. But, thinking about it, maybe there should be a place for his views. Large organisations should be able to absorb the views of their employees. I guess, the management where I work would probably disagree with half of what I believe. Is it any different if the employer is Amnesty International?