Scripture lessons
From Dr Clare Hornsby Sir: I was so happy to read Katie Grant's piece on martyrdom ('Would you die for your faith?', 10 November). As a Catholic, I share her admiration for the fervent devotion of Muslims to their faith, at the same time as being alarmed that what the Christian world has to offer to compare with that are equivocal statements and a reluctance to state the value of its own beliefs. My children attend a UK curriculum international school in Rome, with a large Muslim contingent among the national mix that is dominated by Italians. My daughter, aged ten, was struck by the resilience of a chubby Muslim boy during Ramadan last year, who sat through a birthday party in class cracking jokes and chatting, neither eating nor drinking.
We don't have to be confrontational; we should just be sure that our faith is worth making some sacrifices for, even if those include being the awkward one in a group.
Glare Hornsby
Rome, Italy
From Prudence Jones Sir: Katie Grant has surely mistaken the appeal of militant Islam to most of its modern followers.
Radical Islam has simply stepped into the void left by communism. It is the ideology of choice for opponents of the capitalist, liberal, consumerist outlook of the dominant Western world. It has been seized by economically disadvantaged individuals and nations as a convenient standard round which to rally, but their grievances are surely financial and political rather than religious.
Prudence Jones
Cambridge
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