SIR: Mr R Slater (BEN May 20) has a very one-sided view of Christianity and is mistaken on many points. Admittedly some conflicts have been caused by religious differences, but Christianity and other faiths have done much to improve mankind's position. Examples are the abolition of slavery in much of the world, and relief of the poor by Christian monasteries.

In Britain we need much more specifically Christian religious instruction in schools, not less. Pupils have always been able to make up their own minds later in life, but a grounding in the fundamentals of the faith has never done anyone any harm. As I grow older, I realise more and more how fortunate my generation was in having every school day started with a proper Christian assembly, with good hymns, Scripture lessons, and an efficient grounding in the Catechism were of inestimable value to us. Unfortunately this has been lost in most state schools and you can see the sad results all around you. Provision was made for conscientious objectors to religious instruction to be excused from it.

Mr Slater and his co-religionists (for they have made a religion out of their own lack of belief) are now grossly over represented in the mass communications media. I cannot for the life of me see what he is bitching against on that point. S R Morgan

Normanby Street, Bolton

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