No public money for religious bodies

THE EDITOR: When the UNC was planting jhandis all over the place at public buildings, I protested vehemently on the grounds that Church and State must be kept separate. In lieu of this I said that the Christians should similarly be allowed to erect crosses at public buildings, the Muslims the crescent moon, and all other faiths to leave their mark at all public buildings in this land where every creed and race is supposed to find an equal place. Today I renew my protest in light that the state has given three million dollars to the 85-foot Hanuman statue in Orange Field Road. I have nothing against Hindus building images of their deities of whatever height. Nor do I want to get into any banter about Patrick Manning being a so-called born again Christian getting involved in or supporting idolatry. My stance remains that the State should leave the religious bodies to raise their own funds and run their affairs without a penny from the public coffers.

MC  DONALD  JAMES
Couva