Madam, - John Waters (November 9th) has a point when he talks about abuse of the family court system, but when he launches into a critique of liberalism, reality and restraint are quickly left behind.
I thought Buddhism was the world's first major godless religion; to Mr Waters it is liberalism. He claims it is "perhaps the most fanatical" the world has seen. Just how many suicide bombings did the flower children carry out? He attacks the Democratic Party for "promoting the interests of minorities", but at times these interests, including those of the rural poor, have needed promoting.
Granted, there exists a soft, squishy liberalism that is a travesty of the real thing, but attacking an ideology that seeks to expand reasonable freedom of choice is foolish and misguided. Mr Waters is at his best when he sticks to the facts of his case as they obtain today. When he offers his historical and sociological analysis, we get a mish-mash of his current discontents projected into the past or on to any convenient target. In short, a good case spoilt. - Yours, etc.,
TOBY JOYCE,
Balreask Manor,
Navan.
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Madam, - Please allow an American liberal a few remarks on John Waters's latest column.
Mr Waters writes that "cultural liberalism is as intolerant as fundamentalist Islam". Did I miss Sky News the day that a liberal in the vein of Rousseau and Voltaire sawed off someone's head on camera? Elsewhere, Mr Waters is right that American Democrats "prospered by promoting the interests of minorities". Liberalism defended successive waves of Catholic immigrants - Irish among them, of course - and allowed them to flourish. Liberalism freed blacks from slavery and then from segregation, and made America a place where Jews could live without fear of pogroms.
In fairness, liberalism did much for majorities as well - through the labour movement creating the largest middle class in the history of the world, and beginning the struggle for women's rights - but that's not the point I want to make.
In Ireland as in America, Mr Waters has the right to his opinions - which are minority opinions - only because liberalism protects this right and extends this right to others.
Mr Waters characterises liberalism as intolerant; I say it's doing a hell of a job tolerating his obviously foolish and ignorant opinions. - Yours, etc.,
ROBERT LAMONTAGNE,
Beresford Street,
Dublin 7.