Apart from an all-too-brief reference to the blessed Erasmus, last week's cover story (NS Interview, 26 May) did little to progress the relationship between sacred and secular beyond its current wretched state.
These are the hardest of times to be a liberal Christian; in my case, an ordained Anglican one. To show my despair at being held hostage between the devil (the new secular fundamentalists) and the deep blue sea (my co-religionists who seem hell-bent on turning Christianity into a sort of premodern purity cult), I have replaced my Facebook picture with one of Schopenhauer. At present, I feel a great deal of affinity with the old German miserabilist: perhaps the world really is devoid of sentient life and reality is nothing but a fight to the death between rival egos.
He will remain my public face until Richard Dawkins, in the spirit of Isaiah 11:6, can lie down with Anne Atkins and they are able to see the good in each other.
Rev Dr John Breadon
Oldbury, West Midlands
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