In the six years I have had my dog I have seen five Muslim children have this extraordinary reaction to seeing a dog. They will see the dog securely on a short lead, scream hysterically, and then rush into the road. Some of them have almost been hit by cars.

Today an adult Muslim man did the same thing, thankfully there were no cars coming this time.

I always get very angry when this happens, especially if it is a child because the mother will glare at me (and one even called me a “BASTARD!”) when in actual fact it is their fault for pushing their bullshit religious views on their children.

I’m always very aware that I live in an area of East London with a large Muslim population and am always on the lookout when I’m walking the dog, but how these incidents are my fault is beyond me.

And when I say “bullshit religious views” that goes for Christianity, Catholicism, Judaism, and any other religion you care to mention. Let your child decide when they are old enough and maybe they won’t grow up prettified of things.

I went out for another run and managed another 5 miles under my belt. This time I felt much better and didn’t need an emergency toilet break. As I went round Vicky Park I realised that I’d done this circuit many times since February and I still haven’t become bored of the route or the scenery. Some say it slows you down running the same route all the time, but it hasn’t bored me yet.

Photo by Jonathan Natiuk from FreeImages