Jane Ghosh (Letters, 9 September) defends the right of Catholics and Muslims, for example, to hold views that she disagrees with, providing they don’t try to impose them on others. Yes, certainly.
However, many adherents of those faiths, and of others, routinely do impose their views. They indoctrinate their children into believing that their ideas, however ridiculous and unpleasant, are the one true view of the world.
While that continues to be the case, then I have not just a right but a duty to challenge those views at every opportunity. And if that includes mocking views that I find risible, then why on earth not? I look forward to no longer needing to challenge religious belief systems, just as soon as religion is confined to consenting adults in private.
Albert Beale
London
• Zoe Williams (The pope should tell Rees-Mogg: ‘You ain’t no Catholic, bruv’, 11 September) suggests that Catholics are somehow obsessed with sex.
The Catholic church has a vast body of highly developed social teaching that addresses, and has potential answers to, many of the troubling issues of our times, but this is rarely of any interest to the media. I’ve written widely on this subject for more than 30 years, but not once have I been asked to comment by the media on the environment, poverty, fiscal policy, housing or health. Without exception the only media interest has been in seeking me out to confront some liberal spokesperson attacking Catholic sexual morals.
I would suggest that it wasn’t the moral standpoint of Tim Farron that led him to stand down – his is a fully legitimate faith position shared by many of our politicians. Rather it was the fixation of interviewers with his views on homosexuality.
Equally, Jacob Rees-Mogg didn’t hit the front pages because of his well-recorded and long-held views on abortion, but because Piers Morgan chose to focus on this during what ought to have been a general interview.
Joseph Kelly
Editor, The Universe Catholic weekly
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