HALF our world is at war, and always has been, because of it and now religion raises its ugly head in a way that beggars belief.

A child has been denied a bus pass to school as he has not been baptised into the Catholic church (Echo, Sept 12).

Can you believe it? I, for one, could not believe that Durham County Council can take this stance of blatant religious discrimination when it is supposed to strive for tolerance in all aspects of life.

It would be laughable if it wasn't so shameful that the council is reported to have said to his parents "Why don't you just get him baptised?"

What a mockery it makes of religion and what price education when transporting a child to school depends on his belonging to the "right" faith.

Shame on a council which shows such intolerance and arrogance when it should be neutral in such affairs. It does not have the right to deny this child because he hasn't been baptised a Catholic.

Val Hawkins, Langley Park, Durham.

WEDNESDAY must have been a quiet news day for the editor to warrant front page treatment for the story about the baptism row pupil being refused a bus pass (Echo, Sept 12).

That said, Durham County Council is totally correct in its stance - pupils are, subject to a minimum travel distance, only entitled to free transport to their nearest state school or nearest faith school depending on whether they fulfil the faith criteria.

In this instance, the pupil's nearest applicable school is not St Leonard's RC Comprehensive, in Durham City.

If it were, it would make no difference as to whether he'd been baptised. Also, just as a Catholic pupil attending St Leonard's would not qualify for free travel if he/she lived closer to another Catholic secondary school, this pupil does not qualify.

However, I am sure that the "despair" of having to pay 60p per journey should be more than tempered by the "excitement" of attending such a good school.

Ian Thompson, Spennymoor, Co Durham