Sir, – I’ve read with interest the recent flurry of correspondence prompted by the logorrheic outpourings of your columnist John Waters (Opinion, March 16th). Whatever about the poverty of secularist thinking, the letters clearly indicate the prevalence in Ireland of a propensity for sesquipedalian talking. – Yours, etc,
BRIAN AHERN,
Meadow Copse,
Clonsilla, Dublin 15.
Sir, – Since the publication of John Waters’s article analysing religous-secular aspects in modern Ireland (Opinion, March 16th) I have found that no contributor in this section of the paper has actually discussed the merits or demerits of secularism.
At its best, pragmatic secularism allows public space for individuals to express their various theistic views while at the same time ensuring that no religion has a monopoly in the public sphere. Secularism is not about persecuting those of faith, nor is it about replacing theism with atheism. It is simply about the appropriate separation of religion and the State. We have seen in the past how an ever-closer relationship between the two can have a devastating effect on citizens and wider societal culture. I hope that future contributions on this issue seek to clarify – and not to confuse or pontificate! – Yours, etc,
SEAN CASSIDY,
St Laurence’s Road,
Dublin 20.