IT'S A MISTAKE TO SHOW RESPECT FOR RELIGIOUS BELIEFS

This letter is published in today's Leicester Mercury:

It's a mistake to show respect for religious beliefs

The First Person column (Mercury, January 5) is mistaken in calling for respect for religious beliefs.

This is not a view shared by all secularists.

The aim of secularism is to separate Church and state, not give respect to beliefs that don't deserve it.

Giving respect to religious beliefs is a recipe for the relativism we already have too much of in Leicester, where children are divided into groups by the religion of their parents, and never allowed to decide for themselves.

The parents are then allowed/encouraged to impose any customs, or unfairness, however cruel or unjust, especially on girls, that their "good" book dictates.

Religion should be a personal choice, and remain in the personal lives of those who choose it, not imposed on society as a whole.

Pandering to the religious as the First Person column does, only encourages them in their delusions.

What is needed are universal human rights for everyone, and one law for all.

Lyn Hurst, member of Leicester Secular Society, writing in a personal capacity