Terrible pavements

Most of the pavements in our towns and villages are in a terrible state. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

I think everyone will agree that the majority of the pavements in our towns and villages are in a terrible state, causing hardships for the elderly or people with disability.

Many people have complained about this and there have been a number of people who fell and fractured an arm or a leg. The matter has often been reported to local councils, but such complaints always fell on deaf ears. There has also been a lot of correspondence about this problem in this newspaper. 

The fact that pavements have been taken over by catering establishments has only made the situation worse. Wheelchair users, for example, have to manoeuvre around tables and chairs.

There has been a lot of boasting by different ministers about what is being done for the elderly and people with a disability or special needs but if something as basic as having accessible pavements in a good condition is not possible, then we still have a long way to go.

Doris Borg – Mosta

Catholicism’s survival

I was awestruck by Albert Cilia Vincenti’s line of thought and rationale (June 2), which seemed to me of great intelligence and inflated knowledge of the Church’s misdeeds but lacking in faith and with that little grudge against the Church. No offence is intended, of course.

We are heartsick about the times when we, as Christians, have not lived according to Jesus’s teachings and created barriers to the faith. But we are just as grateful for the nameless men and women who have humbly and courageously upheld the faith through the centuries, who have given their lives to help others, who have left the world a much better place and who have struggled to do the right thing despite incredible pressure to do otherwise.

As William Lane Craig expressed it: if God does not exist, then life is futile. If the God of the Bible does exist, then life is meaningful. Only the second of these two alternatives enables us to live happily and consistently. Therefore, it seems to me that, even if the evidence for these two options is equal, a rational person ought to choose biblical Christianity. It seems to me irrational to prefer death, futility and destruction of life.

In philosophy, we learn that God is a pure being. But in Scripture we learn a better definition, the one which God gives of Himself, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – the God of mighty men like Abraham, mediocre men like Isaac, crafty schemers like Jacob. There is hope for everyone.

My conviction is that the survival of Catholicism in the universe is the triumph of more than simple faith. It is the victory of moral and spiritual unbending certainty. Catholicism survives because it does not compromise. It is a characteristic that excites admiration in even a hardened agnostic.

John Azzopardi – Żabbar