Hear All Sides

FOOT-AND-MOUTH

THE Government seems intent on blaming farmers for spreading FMD. Many papers on July 29 had full reports of a farmer who was offered an infected sheep's carcass. Remember, the farmer turned the offer down.

A few days earlier there had been a very small report about infected parts of sheep being spread about by contractors and workers brought in by the Government, and who are all doing very well out of FMD. The Government very quickly refuted this.

Surely, in view of all this, the Government must see that a full, independent and public inquiry into the whole unhappy saga of this FMD outbreak must be held. If the Government does not have one, it can only mean it is afraid of what might come out of it, and that it might get what it justly deserves.

Remember this Government was very quick to hold an independent and public inquiry about BSE. But, of course, that outbreak was when the Conservatives were in power and Labour could not be blamed. - JD Trotter, Richmond.

TONY Blair was in Penrith recently where he was abused by a mob of Tory Countryside Alliance supporters.

They surely were not ignorant of the fact that the farming industry has just cost the taxpayer one thousand million pounds with more to come. Contrary to some recent letters, I am not unsympathetic to the plight of many farmers and have spoken to them on my travels around the countryside.

They may not be Labour voters but they are miles apart from the type who insulted Mr Blair at Penrith.

Only those blind to reality would disagree that the farming industry needs to change and learn to survive with fewer subsidies - subsidies which cost each taxplayer £150-a-year.

Their all-consuming hatred of the Government only serves to blind their judgement and destroy their efforts to be treated seriously.

Not all trade unionists are members or supporters of the Labour Party and it would be in the best interests of the farming industry if it ceased its blind allegiance to the Tory party. - H Pender, Darlington.

RELIGIOUS TV

WHAT a silly suggestion from EA Moralee (HAS, July 23) that having an agnostic in charge of the BBC's religious broadcasting is like "making an animal hater the manager of a zoo". Being a non-Christian does not make someone a Christian-hater.

The BBC has an obligation to provide a fair and unbiased service to people of all religions and an agnostic is in a better position to do this than anyone who thinks their own is the one true faith. - P Winstanley, Chester-le-Street.

MEANING OF LIFE

P WINSTANLEY (HAS, Jul 27) is entitled to his own opinion on this issue because the first and foremost concept is interpretation and the need of the individual.

But to suggest that the world in itself is "intrinsically wonderful" is being vague and misusing words.

The majority of people past and present would disagree because life on this planet has been and is hard and far from wonderful.

While there can be the suggestion that religious leaders and others have used these living conditions for their own gain, at least many people have been given some hope and something to believe in. But, to suggest that we are here today and gone tomorrow, has no rational substance, other than an irrelevant appeal to ignorance.

Our scientists are finding new horizons and knowledge that is proving what was a few decades ago superstition and myth.

How can a star billions of miles away explode and then create a universe? Our galaxy, and there are countless others, was created by an exploding star. It seems out of what we term death there is a new beginning. As far as I can surmise one must keep an open mind and let time take its course. To suggest otherwise is wishful thinking and the act of a vacuous mind. - John Young, Crook.

I DO admire the world view that P Winstanley derives from the belief that "the purpose of life is life itself" (HAS, July 27). Sadly, many more starting from the same viewpoint conclude, quite legitimately, that looking after yourself and your own is as far as their responsibility extends.

It is, of course, much easier holding such a belief in the comfort of a "first world" (an accusation which is often directed at Christmas). Yet wherever in the world the practising Christian is found, their acknowledgement of God's supreme authority requires a response towards their fellow men. Jesus put it so succinctly: "Love God and love your neighbour as yourself." - R Morris, Crook.

IN REPLY to Thomas E Newton (HAS, July 27) I am not a member of any cult, false or otherwise. Some of us are endowed with sufficient intelligence and have lived long enough (78 years in my case) to form our own opinions. I am familiar with the Bible and have even tackled the Koran. I call myself agnostic (lapsed Church of England). - B Langford, Richmond.

IN REPLY to Eric Gendle's question about heaven, (HAS, July 12), the answer lies in the Book of John, Chapter 14. In Verse Three Jesus tells the disciples just before his death that he is now going to prepare a place for them to be with him - obviously not of this world but of the other.

Also, in Verse 21 he tells us that if we love him and keep his commandments he will reveal himself to us. That is the time that these things suddenly seem impossible.

In the words of the Old Testament prophet Balaan, God is not a man, that he should die. - W Mawston, Rushyford.