Sir, - The attack on New York did not represent an attack on Christianity by Islam but rather an attack by religionists on the secular state. If there is a conflict between certain forms of Islam and the West, then it is a conflict between theocracy and secularism. The separation of church and state is central to the construction of the Western polity: unto God and Caesar respectively; the one in heaven, the other here on earth.
In Ireland we are more than familiar with the problems associated with the entwining of religion and politics, whereby the quest for a Catholic state for Catholics and a Protestant state for Protestants has led us all down the (Ardoyne) road to hell.
And yet extreme religionists refuse to give up their ambition. Once again, on the abortion issue, we must bear painful witness as one group attempts to insert its specific religious beliefs into the Constitution.
Fighting against one thing implies fighting for something else. In opposing what Osama bin Laden and other religionists, of whatever hue, represent, I for one am fighting for a liberal-secular state that accommodates difference - not a Jewish, Christian or Muslim state that tolerates one or the other to a greater or lesser degree depending on the circumstances at the moment. Religion must not be allowed to infect the state with absolutist doctrines.
Those who attacked New York picked their target well. No other place on earth has more completely eschewed the idea of religion as a basis for political organisation. While all are free to practise their particular religious beliefs as they see fit, in New York Mammon is the only king. As a former president said, "It's the economy, stupid".
Our collective purpose must be to keep religion firmly in the synagogue, church or mosque and firmly out of the parliament, the constitution and the marketplace. Liberal secularism is a fine belief. In the coming conflict I know where I stand. - Yours, etc.,
Joe O' Carroll, Inchicore Road, Kilmainham, Dublin 8.