The Guardian has a sensible enough piece on the Brick Lane issue. But what they fail to understand is that by even using the word "community" (something that Natasha Walter does twenty times in this article), they give support to the very problem they are highlighting. 
It's individuals we are talking about, not communities. It's a flawed and useless way of talking about what is a matter of individuals. Some people think the book is treacherous/blasphemous/nasty-nasty, and some people don't. To use the word "community" automatically gives these busybodies the very credibility that they are trying to achieve.
We all take offence at all sorts of things. But, as Penn Jillette says, we don't have a right not to be. That applies whethere you're an individual person or a self-styled "community leader".
