In the interview with Professor Marguerit Moritz (The Story Behind The Story, June 10), the latter said that "anti-gay, anti-semitic and anti-black language can be used without it being illegal". She has, of course, perhaps without realising, committed a sin of omission. I am here referring to the fact that in the media, both local and foreign, it has become increasingly common-place, acceptable and normal to treat Christianity and all it stands for in the most derogatory and offensive manner possible. This is apart from the plays, films and art exhibitions regularly presented which sometimes border on the blasphemous in their anti-Christian rhetoric.

News items, articles and letters seem to be written with the sole intent, sometimes covertly but more often than not overtly, of presenting Christians, and especially the Catholic Church and its precepts, in the worst light possible. There is an enormous difference between legitimate, constructive dissent and destructive criticism which knows no limits. Thus, the Catholic Church's teachings about divorce, abortion, gay marriages and euthanasia, repeatedly referred to by the present Pope as non-negotiable issues, are often used to attach labels and deride those Christians who refuse to conform to "the spirit of the age".

There is a real attempt going on world-wide to stifle the only moral voice left in the western world, that of the Catholic Church, raised in the defence of the unborn, the weak and terminally ill and the sacredness of marriage between a man and a woman. Shall we come to a point where, in future, references to Scripture or to the Catechism of the Catholic Church be deemed illegal and liable to legal penalties, even to imprisonment perhaps? How should Christians, especially Catholics, react to all this? The real temptation is to be intimidated and consequently refrain from talking about sensitive issues lest the wrath of those bent on the secularisation of society and the resulting eradication of Christian values, is incurred. There could also be the illusion that by behaving in this manner matters will somehow sort themselves out without the need to confront whatever offends God by calling it loudly and clearly by its name.

We cannot be selective in our condemnation of what offends the dignity of men and women and choose only those issues, like child abuse, drug trafficking and usury, the denunciation of which enjoys widespread consensus. Had Christ behaved in a similar manner His end would certainly not have been as ignominious as it was and His popularity, at least as long as He lived, would have been secure. But then, He would not have carried out His Father's will thus forfeiting the main reason for His coming on earth. Are Christians, the heirs of those who died in the arenas of the Roman Empire in order to hold fast to their faith, willing to behave similarly?