At last someone, namely Iain Macwhirter, has had the courage to put into print exactly what I feel about religion (We can,we should, we will continue to mock, criticise and ridicule religion, Comment, January 18.) He emphasises two of the most basic problems with at least two religions, Christianity and Islam.

Firstly, both these belief systems argue a peaceful attitude to those who do not share their belief: sinners should be forgiven and believers should turn the other cheek to those who offend them. But clearly some Muslims and Christians ignore these precepts and have done so over the centuries.

Secondly, there is the ludicrous position of all religions claiming a monopoly of religious and moral truth. Obviously not all can be true, although many believers claim theirs is the only true faith and insist that all the others are false.

Atheists and agnostics can be and often are, just as kind, gentle, fair and ethical in action, as any religious believer.

Rose Harvie

Dumbarton

Iain Macwhirter's assertion that "we can, we should and I hope will, continue to mock, criticise and ridicule religion" represents the arrogance of the zealot and the certainty of the believer convinced that they are right and determined they should impose their beliefs on everyone else. What we need now is acceptance not arrogance. The need for information and knowledge is now greater than ever. Yet when deeper understanding of religion and belief is needed, to prevent extremists hijacking religious beliefs and misusing them to justify violence and murder, Scottish secularists raise their voices against any religion in our education system or our public square.

Secular humanism is a belief system to which a small but vociferous minority of our fellow citizens adhere. We should respect their beliefs, however extreme they may appear, but we do well to remember the bloody legacy of societies which have abandoned then banned all mention of religion in recent history. From the pagan cult of Nazism to Mao's China, Stalin's Soviet Union, Pol Pot's Cambodia and the Kim dynasty's North Korea all have banned, ridiculed and criticised religion to the great detriment of their people and at a cost of 10s of millions of lives.

Yet, religion has always returned as it did in Russia, China and Cambodia, because it touches the human heart, it does not subjugate people as so many secular creeds do, it liberates them, for this reason human beings will always seek God.

Bashir Maan

Glasgow

I enjoy Iain Macwhirter's contributions. However, in listing various religions, he fails to list atheism as a belief system. They believe there is no God, polar opposite to Christianity, but with equal right to be classed alongside it as a belief system. Indeed, humanism, a system of thought, also qualifies for the accolade. I cannot recall public satirism of these two belief systems. I notice that Judaism is not in his list. In mitigation I suppose it could be argued that Jews are a people.

It is sad that the writer, who is anti belief systems, is selective in his antagonism. What depressed me most was the lack of a positive word for the good things belief in God has brought to the world.

RA Cook

Rutherglen