Sir: Whilst Mr Mount rightly says (4 July) that the
rights of all superstitious cults (euphemistically, religions) should be equally protected, he errs in regarding charitable status as a right: it is not a right, but a privilege. Whenever the state doles out privileges, its only criterion should be whether a recipient would use his privilege chiefly for the public good. Since most people whose minds are not clogged with idolatry and paranoia would admit that every religion hinders its adherents' capacity for rational thought and honest moral reflection, the state ought not to give privileges to any cult unless that cult changes its priority from pretentious irrationalism to useful work. Having a monarch as its head should not exempt any superstitious cult from this rule.
Peter Lloyd, 17 Den Road, Cardiff, South Glamorgan
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