Not all Christians are the same

Bear in mind that Christianity is a broad faith encompassing a range of viewpoints and many Christians are appalled by some of those and actions taken by other Christians in the name of their faith.

By all means actions and viewpoints should be critiqued, but a mocking of the faith as seen in some Star articles can read more like something we would expect to see about other faiths on a far-right website.

Wrongful acts can be legitimised by an interpretation of Christianity just as many are justified by interpretations of liberty or security. But this often represents a perversion or abuse of these ideas rather than a flawed idea in and of itself.

The frequent allusions by the BNP and English Democrats to so-called Christian ideals and traditions in an attempt to shore up a nationalist agenda are a tame example of this.

The church, like any institution, has made mistakes in the past and on occasion has wrongly invoked religious pretexts to excuse itself.

Many Christians are progressive and the Christian socialist movement is alive and well in many forms.

Many emancipatory movements in both past and present are supported and encouraged by various churches, such as the movements to abolish both slavery and the death penalty and anti-poverty campaigns in the modern day.

To characterise all Christianity as socially and economically conservative is to do a good proportion of its followers a disservice.

Robin Jervis

York