Sir, - Dustin Hoffman's timely comments on the glorification of violence in the movie industry deserve the attention and support of concerned parents and other citizens. The dramatic increase in screen violence is a matter of urgent concern to all who are interested in the well being of society. The subtle process of desensitisation is well advanced in Ireland and there is a growing ambivalence to scenes depicting violent rape, vicious killing and dehumanised behaviour.
Our Irish concentration on sexual mores has often blinded us to other moral threats. The argument that cinema and TV violence is not corrupting or conducive to crime is infantile and dangerous.
If public morality is about quality of life and the support of social health we need to open a debate so that parents, educators, social workers and concerned citizens can make their feelings heard and press for remedial action. Reaction to excessive censorship should not blinker us to the need for legislative controls over video nasties, violence inducing films and other forms of manipulation.
There is clear evidence that violent crime is increasing in our cities, towns and rural communities. The accompanying brutality sends shock waves around the country.
Those who share a vision of life and society inspired and informed by the Judaen Christian ethic need to stand up and speak up before we slide into a moral quagmire. Pluralism, which accommodates diversity and dissent should not be hijacked so as to promote an "anything goes" style of behaviour.
Let us break the silence of the churches, trade unions, social services, cultural organisations and educational bodies and blend our corporate voices in a thoughtful, rational analysis of the serious malaise which threatens to destabilise our society. The famous words of Edmund Burke offer a strong challenge - "the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing". - Yours, etc.,
The Baptist Church, Brannockstown,
Naas, Co Kildare.