Dear Sir.

The recent attacks in Orlando prove once again that we have awakened an Isis giant, so evil and destructive, that it will keep the world from now on in a state of alert for many years to come.

Ignoring, making fun and mocking another country’s way of life, with music, rhetoric, cartoons and songs, with our imagined safety net with free speech, has engendered a hatred so great that foolishly we have ignored for years.

We all know that our ancestors fought for our right to free speech, and we all know that privilege holds a great responsibility, Which means that we should not demean and insult without expecting an eventual response. In this case, the response has engendered so much hate, that we see the results in all our recent terrorist attacks today.

Their response, with adherents all over the world, will attract the very worst elements in human nature.

All we can do is be alert, be aware and respond the best we know how.

Lessons sometimes come too late, so let us hope that this evil genie can one day be put back into its bottle and that the lessons learnt will never to be forgotten.

Free speech is not free; it comes with responsibility.

DIANA WILLIAMS