Madam, - That you printed Tom Humphries's nauseating (but doubtless accurate) description of a bullfight in your Sports section (July 24th), suggesting that the matter is of limited rather than general concern, prompts the question: is there no editorial policy on this sick and cruel activity? Why not, for example, outright editorial condemnation, with a call for a boycott?
Pace Tom Humphries, bullfighting never had any "sanctity"; it could not have been "diminished" because it was never other than an obscene and shameless manifestation of human amorality, and no amount of facile sophistry can make it in any degree acceptable. If it is part of anybody's "culture", then that culture stinks.
The fact that half the spectators were tourists suggests that without their money the bullfighting might run into financial difficulty and I would again urge people, if they must visit Spain, at least to boycott the bullfight. Perhaps, however, some of these tourists just wanted to "see for themselves" before making a judgement about bullfighting.
This wasn't necessary; we don't have to "see for ourselves" before condemning this "sport", no more than we had to see for ourselves before condemning cockfighting, bear baiting, battery farming or the torture of political prisoners. - Yours, etc.,
RUARC GAHAN, Knocknaboley, Hollywood, Co Wicklow.