This is with reference to the report “‘Listen to the voices of other faiths'” (Oct. 18). The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams' advice to the churches to “listen to the voices of other faiths” is indeed welcome and has interestingly come on a day when Bal Thackeray accused Jawaharlal Nehru of having “wrecked the country, giving preference to the Muslims” (“Thackeray hits out at Sonia, Congress”, Oct. 18).
The Archbishop has always been a great supporter of inter-faith harmony and, as rightly pointed out at the function in Chennai, is a committed unifier who is opposed to antiquated dogma in all its forms. On a similar historic visit in September 2004 to Al-Azhar, one of Islam's oldest centres of learning at Cairo, Archbishop Williams spoke of the commonness of purpose of all faiths, saying: “whenever a Muslim, a Christian or a Jew refuses to act in violent revenge, creating terror and threatening or killing the innocent, that person bears witness to the true God.” These are the kind of leaders the world needs and not demagogues who appeal to the baser emotions of people.
A. Faizur Rahman,
Chennai
