Painting Pakistan
Re: "India and Pakistan troops exchange fire", (World, April 28).
India and Pakistan have waged war against each other over the issue of terrorism. This situation between the nuclear-armed rivals is increasingly worrying.
Maybe a new perspective should be introduced in this matter instead of focusing on verbal attacks, which lead to wars. For years, India has accused Pakistan of supporting "cross-border terrorism", an accusation Islamabad has denied.
An issue that has been sidelined and hijacked for decades is that both rivals are home to new wealth, beautiful culture, knowledge and vast natural resources that can largely benefit the international community.
Pakistan and India, being the hubs of many renowned English newspapers, can easily send their positive messages to the West through their own media.
To do that, sincere efforts by the governments in Pakistan and India are needed to make a decision about tackling terror threats. And this will help stop painting Pakistan in a negative way.
Senthil Saravana Durai
Epistle writing
Re: "A gift and a prayer" and "Faith at White House", (PostBag, April 26).
As a former Christian of the Catholic persuasion, I can happily join with Glen Chatelier's assessment of the late Pope Francis as being "a gracious, affable, and pious church leader". He even did a bit to welcome in a little more warmly women, the LGBTQ+ members of humanity, the remarried and more recently those of same-sex marriages.
Paul's letter to PostBag on "Faith at White House", in which he proclaims that "the atheists asked for it" in lauding President Donald Trump's latest assault on a tradition dear to conservatives, the strict separation of church and state, is to be lamented.
Paul should perhaps consider that some mockery is not unwarranted. Whilst no god or goddess can ever be either proved or disproved (I might well be wrong in my atheism), since the set of verifiable evidence, of readily repeatable observation, for the existence of each and every god and goddess and demon and angel and ghost and other spirit is identical, and also identical to the sets of such verifiable evidence for the existence of Santa, Santa's herd of flying reindeer, and of course Superman, it is equally reasonable to believe in all such things, along with Harry Potter's flying thestrals.
The right to freedom to believe in all such things must be respected, but surely even Paul the PostBag epistle writer can understand that when Christians act to make the law less just by imposing their backwards moral values founded on dodgy metaphysics, rational, moral humans will respond. It is worth bearing in mind that healthy mockery of pretensions is much less deadly than burning at the stake or imprisonment for peaceful, honest speech.
Rest in peace, Pope Francis. Let us pray that the conclave will elect a leader who will use his official infallibility in matters of doctrine to more rapidly move his church to catch up with the recent moral progress of humanity.
Felix Qui
