Sir, - I would like to comment on Paul O'Donoghue's letter (September 18th) on the importance of promoting science. There are still very many mysteries in science which have not been solved. In fact there are lot more mysteries in science than in religion. The biggest of these relates to the "Big Bang" theory of the origin of the universe. Nobody knows what caused the "Big Bang". The two billion or so Christians on planet Earth would probably say God caused it.
The most spectacular progress made in science has been the development of weapons of mass destruction and no doubt more progress will be made in this area.
Mr O'Donoghue also has a go at alternative medicine as a treatment for depression. He castigates the psychic healer Sarah Delamere Hurding for using phrases such as "demons of the mind" in connection with depression. I have met a number of people who have suffered from depression, schizophrenia and other mental illnesses and who, though rational people, could only describe what they experienced while ill as a feeling of being possessed by a demon, or devil, or evil spirit. Perhaps this is why the Catholic Church still performs exorcisms.
There has been mass defection from orthodox medicine to alternative medicine (herbalism, naturopathy, Christian faith healing, etc.) because people are disillusioned with pill-doctors who interview for three minutes and then write a prescription, or simply because sick people spend too long on the waiting lit. - Yours, etc.,
Christopher Hanafin, Newmarket-on-Fergus, Co Clare.