ROBERT VANCE,
Sir, - As an inter-faith parent of inter-denominational schoolchildren, I must counter John Waters's assertions as to the dangers of pluralism (Opinion, July 8th).
Firstly, personal experience would suggest that matters of faith are better kept outside of the classroom and within the area of parental discretion, as school-hour segregation for religious reasons only shows children that there are us and them. The latter, in today's Ireland, are as likely to be Muslim, Hindu or non-believer as other Christians. To create an "other" for children to contrast themselves against within school leads only to suspicion and distrust.
Secondly, to suggest that tolerance and respect for all cultures and religions is inimical to identity and belief is an aboriginal viewpoint. The fact is that Irish identity today need not be the rigid, hyperbole-fuelled fantasy of the past, nor the perpetual tedious victim of imperialism.
John Waters's pathological diagnosis of the relationship between these islands presumes a one-way flow of power and influence, and is both negative and deterministic, assuming an Irish identity that is forever passive and inactive.
Finally, the particular ideologies of nationalism and religion suggest, most powerfully, a deeper sense of personal insufficiency, a lack at the very core of self. Perhaps the further the kernel of our identity is penetrated by consumer capitalism and its manipulative and narcissistic tendencies, the more necessary it is to create a fantasy of singular, harmonious "Irishness" and to project internal antagonisms and contradictions onto one's neighbours.
I suggest that personal identity can be radical, for although we live in a market-orientated social context, we may still be passionate and reflective about our emotional, interpersonal and moral lives.
Selfdom can also be a forward- looking project, predicated on the free expression of the individual through imaginative education, thereby creating new forms of cultural development. And within these we may abandon the redundant and backward "Faith and Fatherland" notions of singular identity. - Yours, etc.,
St David's Terrace,
Glasnevin,
Dublin 7.