Ludocrous ideas
From Mr RA. Massie-Blomfteld Sir: Ludovic Kennedy is nothing if not pre- dictable ('An Atheist in the Pew', 2 Octo- ber). Yet it surprises me that he fails to realise that his objection to the faith of oth- ers in a memorial service to 'the dear girl I loved and remembered' borders on the absurd. To the man who reduces God to 'a chimera, a fantasy of the mind', all that is left is joylessness since the life that once brought him joy has been snuffed out like a candle. To those of us who exercise faith, the most natural thing to do is to glorify the God in whose image Jill Dando was made and with whom she has now gone to dwell, having left the world of the dying to enter the land of the living — thanks to Him who conquered death for us.
One wonders if it ever occurred to Mr Kennedy while he was sitting cramped in his pew finding the faith of others 'a bit much', that Jill Dando's assassin might have been less trigger-happy had the death penalty still been in place. But of course in his atheistic zeal Mr Kennedy played his full part in bringing hanging to an end. (It is disturbing to contemplate how many 'reforms' this century have resulted from the efforts of self-confessed atheists or agnostics.) I refuse to believe that Ludovic Kennedy has never experienced any intima- tions of immortality, for 'there's not a man that lives who hath not known his God-like hours'.
Surely the prospect of spending eternity with Bertrand Russell is enough to drive him into the arms of the Lord?
R.A. Massie-Blomfield
Cavina School, P 0 Box 43090, Nairobi, Kenya
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