Letter: Imprisonment of Enoch Burke - a young man prepared to face the ruin of his career for his Christian belief - is a stain on democracy
A letter from Gerald Morgan:
The imprisonment of Enoch Burke is the action of a police state rather than that of a civilised democracy which we cherish today.
It is ironic indeed that this cause celebre has taken place in the land of saints and scholars.
Enoch Burke is a prisoner of conscience, an evangelical Christian from Castlebar, Co Mayo, who refuses on principle to address a pupil in his school, Wilson's Hospital School in Co Westmeath.
It is one thing to encourage the use of feminine pronouns for a boy who wishes to be addressed as a girl. It is quite another to compel a teacher to address him as her when this goes against his (the teacher's own) Christian belief.
I would hope that we can quickly bring this unfortunate episode to an end by moderation and common sense (rare qualities, admittedly, at any time). But we are surely bound to admire a young man prepared to face the ruin of his career for his Christian belief.
We have now entered Advent and a time of Christian renewal, forgiveness and hope.
We can all be winners from this sad episode.
Gerald Morgan, Dublin 4