Gavan O'Farrell (Letters, August 4) objects to my singling out Christianity for its brutal past, but, of course, it is a certain segment of this denomination — in particular the Catholic Church — that has chosen to campaign against our Government acceding to the wishes of the vast majority of its citizens and passing the End of Life Choice Bill.
Other faith-based groups may or may not agree with this legislation, but it is the Catholic Church that has come out with all guns blazing, taking on itself the task of "protecting" those of us who support this bill and do not ask for their interference.
The wonder continues to be that, regardless of the revelations of child sexual molestation and attempts by their hierarchy to hide and bribe it away, this Church still aspires to inflict its standards on us.
Patricia Butler, Nelson
On Ihumātao
Two words: Legitimate expectations ...
John Vercoe Bould, Greenlane
On cricket umpire
Well done to correspondent Bruce Tubb for getting two letters published in the one edition, and well done too for his sense of humour.
But it's not all about quantity, there is quality to consider, and whichever way he might choose to look at it, the umpire Marais Erasmus is not an Englishman.
Phil Chitty, Albany
On the Topp Twins
I was recently at a conference where the Topp Twins were paid handsomely to MC.
I, and a lot of other attendees, were disgusted by their behaviour. Their stock gag was to pick on someone of an ethnicity and make either racist or derogatory comments about them.
When it came to "singing", they held their microphones at waist height and made no effort. Needless to say, when they were on stage a number of people headed for the exit!
It seems their act hasn't changed since the 80s when this was acceptable and I doubt they'd like it if an MC asked those questions of them. If they can't update their act, maybe these "NZ Legends" should step away from live performances.
Andrew Parsons, Orakei
On expletives
Paul Little's interesting article about bringing kids into an uncertain future is spoiled by his reference to a documentary that "scared the bejesus out of everyone" (August 4).
I understand why some non-Christians are okay with using a bastardised version of "Jesus" to mean "s***": the fact that it offends Christians either doesn't matter or is a bonus.
Even so, the decision to use a name you don't value to express strong emotion is remarkable. Is it a lack of vocabulary or imagination, or a lack of competent emotion management? I'm both offended (who cares?) and bemused.
Gavan O'Farrell, Lower Hutt
On extradition
Every country has an extradition policy, so why is it wrong for China to ask that someone who has committed a crime in China and lives in Hong Kong is sent back to China to stand trial?
As for the United States, why is it still keen on having someone living in NZ extradited back to the US to stand trial?
I would think it's more just policy than for Australia to send its prisoners who have done wrong in Australia and served their terms to live in New Zealand.
Margaret Scott, Pakuranga
