November 24: Leadership needed after Paris atrocity

AN EXCELLENT article by Tom Richmond (The Yorkshire Post, November 18) from which I selectively quote to make a point. “Where are the diplomats? If there is one lesson to be learned from Britain’s missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, it is that military action can be counter productive”.

If ever the world needed leaders conducting themselves as statesmen, it is now.

From: G J C Reid, Whitby.

I NOTE the Archbishop of Canterbury had a moment of doubt when he heard of the terrible events in Paris.

Could this not have been God giving us the proverbial kick in the posterior to get us to actually do something rather than the interminable talking and handwringing we seem to indulge in?

I sometimes think that, had the present crop of politicians been around in 1939, I might well have been writing to you in German.

From: Brian Sheridan, Redmires Road, Sheffield.

ACCORDING to Bill Carmichael (The Yorkshire Post, November 20), the usual suspects – the Germans, “Frau” Merkel, as he disingenuously calls her, the Guardian and the BBC are partly to blame for the latest terrorist attacks. And there I was, thinking they were entirely the work of insane, cowardly losers with no understanding of the human condition.

To use the tragedy to take gratuitous shots at personal prejudices constitutes journalism of the lowest order.

From: John Watson, Hutton Hill, Leyburn.

WITH respect to David Glover (The Yorkshire Post, November 20), I do not believe that “forgiveness” is the answer to our present day security problems.

I was brought up in a strongly Christian household and at school I had seven years studying divinity.

Is Mr Glover saying that we should forgive Isis for what they have already done with their beheadings, crucifixions, mass rape, and all forms of anti-Christian brutality of a kind never before seen on this planet?

What nonsense. Our enemies who condemn Christianity as the work of the Devil would so damage our Western culture that life would become intolerable.

From: Dr Glyn Powell, Kellington, Goole.

FOLLOWING the terrorist attacks in Paris, our pathetic Western leaders are already beating the war drums. Such leaders never learn the lessons of history. Tony Blair and George W Bush are directly responsible for today’s Middle East instability, as a result of their ill-judged interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq. In terms of Syria, President Assad must remain in power if the country is ever to be stabilised. The Russian, Iranian and Hezbollah tactics of destroying all rebel factions is the only strategy that will lead to peace.

From: Robert Dring, Keal Cotes, Spilsby, Lincolnshire.

ISMAIL Syed’s spirited and principled condemnation of those responsible for the Paris atrocities will be widely welcomed (The Yorkshire Post, November 18). However the optimism of his letter stands in sharp contrast with many people’s experience.

“Islam advocates integration and embraces all cultures within the concept of diversity.” Would this strike a chord with members of religious minorities, notably Christians, in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan, Sudan et al where the watchword is “submission” rather than “peace”?

The dreadful treatment of Nissar Hussain in Bradford, simply because he exercised his freedom to choose his religion (The Yorkshire Post, November 20), illustrates the challenge ahead if we are to become a truly integrated, peaceful and free society.

Sky-high hypocrisy

From: Ian Barnes, Blake Court, Wheldrake, York.

GOOD to see that “Call me Dave, we are all in it together” Cameron has reached the nadir of hypocrisy by getting his own aircraft at taxpayers’ expense, telling us it will save three quarters of a million pounds per annum. No doubt the real costs will be lost in the RAF budget.

Once again, some of the poorest in society will be left to pick up the bill. I wonder why the Tories opposed it on cost grounds when the last Labour government floated the idea?

Following the example of America with Air Force One, can I suggest we call it “Tax Credits One” or “Northern Powerhouse One”.

Freedom and religion

From: Colin Challen, St Sepulchre Street, Scarborough.

THE article by Nick Baines, the Bishop of Leeds, does not make it clear (The Yorkshire Post, November 23) whether the Church of England is engaged in a bit of special pleading (as ever) over the banning of its advert from cinemas.

What I want to know is whether the freedom he says his church is being denied is a freedom he would approve of for all religions. Should the cinema chain accept adverts from Scientologists and Moonies, and even sillier religions too?

How about readings from The God Delusion in the Bishop’s church? Special pleading from a Church in decline and riven by schism is not a pretty sight, and this is just a distraction activity.