Christian values

Published on 02/10/2012 00:00

Alistair McBay and Paul Brownsey (Letters, 1 October) both accused me of calling for certain views to be “excluded” from debate, when I said nothing of the sort. In common with many secularists, they seem 
unable to distinguish between disagreeing with a viewpoint and trying to silence it.

I agree with Neil Barber that there should be no “freedom to impose religion on others”, but this can often be misinterpreted to mean that the views of religious people about how to create the best possible society must be ignored. A more pressing issue is the trend towards the state imposing its own secular philosophical and moral vision on those who dare to disagree.

Mr McBay brought up the issue of bishops in the House of Lords. I do not wish to defend this, but I would like to be able to vote for a mainstream political party that roughly represented my views as a Christian.

His assertion that “the more that religious leaders speak out, the faster it seems the pews are emptying” is rather undermined by the fact that it is generally churches that do present a clear prophetic biblical message that are growing, while vaguely spiritual liberal churches are declining precipitously.

RIChaRD LUCAS

Broomyknowe

Colinton, Edinburgh