The Rev John Webster (Letters, June 2) ventured into dangerous territory when associating the ethos of Roman Catholic educational establishments with "the wonderful God-given gift" of sex.
The Church has paid a heavy price for the abuse of young people in its schools and institutions. This scandal and the celibacy of priests and members of some teaching orders may not be unconnected.
Mr Webster is following in the footsteps of the censorious Dr Bowdler, from whose prudery no writer was safe.
Shakespeare's works were his first "clean-up" job. Nearer our own time, theatre censorship prevented adults seeing plays by Ibsen, Shaw and Miller. It seems the blight of Bowdlerism is still with us.
Mr Webster's pick'n'mix approach to biblical texts will not do. If the Bible is the infallible word of God, it is divinely inspired truth. If not, it is just another book compiled by unknown persons at uncertain dates.
Yet it is used as a kind of fetish for swearing in our courts of law and Parliament. Worse, it is used in schools as a source of moral teaching.
-W.J. McIlroy, Hove
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