Sir, - Alas for Ian Cox. It is relevant that nowhere in his polemic does the word Christian or Christianity appear. Even Oliver Cromwell, whom Ian does not use to bolster his case, did say: "I beseech you, in the bowels of Christ, think it possible you may be mistaken."
Baptism and confirmation in any of the main branches of the Christian Churches only place each individual on a path towards becoming a Christian; perhaps few achieve this goal. Of course Ian does not claim to be a potential Christian, merely a Protestant. He does, I think, protest too much. I would conjure him to read the works of Erasmus of Rotterdam, a voice of reason and reconciliation in a period even more troubled than our own. And a daily recital of Psalm 133 would not go amiss. - Yours, etc.,
Ashdale Avenue,
Dublin 6W.