Sir – Mr Taylor (Letters, March 28) refers to the fashion to ridicule matters of faith, but fails to quote an instance. He suggests it can be counted on to belittle Easter. Nobody has as far as I am aware.


An atheist myself, I can’t say I can think of any such instances emanating from the many non-believers I know, and don’t believe this is generally the case. I think there is a need for some (not all) believers to realise that there is a difference between disagreeing with them and ridicule.
If there is a fashion these days, it is, perhaps, the way some (not all) believers use terms like aggressive or militant atheism without foundation. People sometimes knock on my door promoting religion, or I am stopped on the street by Christians keen to convert me, but I don’t feel the need to describe them as aggressive or militant. They have a point of view they wish to promote. There can be no possible reason to object to that. The free expression of different points of view is the essence of a healthy society.
I won’t comment on Mr Taylor’s remarks regarding the decline or otherwise in organised religion as the arguments for both sides have been adequately covered in your pages.
I hope that Mr Taylor, and other Christians had a good Easter. I will continue to disagree with them vigorously, using reason, not ridicule.
Paul Surman, Horspath