Madam, - On June 6th, 2004, my nephew Simon Cumbers, a freelance cameraman/journalist, was murdered in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, while working for the BBC. His parents, my sister and brother-in-law had to make the sad journey to Riyadh to assist with all the arrangements to have his body brought home. They received enormous support from both the British and Irish ambassadors, for which they were, and are, extremely grateful.
From the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia my sister received instructions as to the dress code of that country - long skirt, not trousers, etc - and she was presented on arrival with an abaya and scarf which enveloped her from head to toe. An application had to be made to the king for "permission" to visit their son's remains in the local hospital, and during their 10-day stay they were allowed only one visit. In addition, my sister was told that under no circumstances should she have any Christian emblems on her person - an Irish Catholic mother unable to produce her rosary beads to pray for her murdered son.
Imagine the indignation of Muslims if we enforced similar restrictions on a Muslim family entering Ireland in similar circumstances. Were we to deny Muslims their right to practise their religion, close their Mosques, ban their distinctive garb and religious emblems, the consequences would surely be "Holy War", and would make the reaction to Pope Benedict's lecture seem benign.
I do not suggest that we do any of these things, but if Moslems demand to be treated in the Western World with the utmost sensitivity - as they do - surely it would not be unreasonable to expect that Christians would be accorded the same level of respect in Muslim countries. It is suggested that there is a critical distinction between fundamentalist and moderate Muslims. The experience of my family in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia would suggest that this distinction is more apparent than real.- Yours, etc,
ROISIN LYNN, Mullinary, Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan.
Madam, - Vincent Browne is correct to point out that Pope Benedict's Eurocentric notion of reason (logos) lies at the base of his recent unfortunate remark (Opinion, September 20th). It also underlies his dismissal of the scriptural thinking of Protestants as subjective and irrational, as well as his extraordinary description of Buddhism as "a kind of spiritual auto-eroticism".
Mr Browne is also correct that Islam was often a religious of tolerance and peace. Prof David Woods (September 21st) refers to Muslim massacres of those who refused to surrender in a siege. But this practice, normal in ancient Rome, was also followed by Christians, such as Sir Walter Raleigh in one incident in Ireland. I am told that Muslim law specified that if the besieged did surrender their lives should be spared.
Also, it is incorrect to say that Sophronius of Jerusalem was executed. He died a natural death a year after he had negotiated good terms for Jews and Christians from the Caliph Omar, who had taken the city. - Yours, etc,
Rev JOSEPH S O'LEARY DD, Department of English Literature, Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan.