Religious brainwashing

Sir, - Religion is defined as a belief and conduct system that has its roots in unprovable mythology. Politics is much the same except it has its roots in the nominally provable reality.

In both forms of ideology there is an inherent implication that what is believed is true and immutable and everything and anyone else is wrong.

Unfortunately, religious texts, principally those based around the Middle Eastern monotheologies all, without exception, have sections devoted to enforcing observance based on pain of death.

In the enlightened, better-educated parts of the world we have learned to generally ignore these, but in the more fundamentalist states these prescriptions are taken as dogmatic law to be followed without regard to consequences.

Politics and religion are fundamentally much the same and it is the leaders, whether political or religious, demanding adherence to beliefs, who end up promoting conflict and division.

In recent television programmes we have seen how ordinary people across the world in states such as China and India are perfectly normal. It is only when wound up by their leaders using media manipulation that we have conflict.

The key to religion is to teach it, in all its forms, discuss and identify the elements of the system that need to be modernised or brought into reality and not to impose any form of segregation or belief observance, especially until people have the experience to make their own minds up. Enforced religious observance is brainwashing. Nick Cole. Balmacron Farmhouse, Meigle.