Letter: ‘Need for gentleness and respect' when defending belief and seeking solution to noise pollution problem in Belfast city centre
A letter from John Hardy:
Your editorial (The compromise solution to noise pollution in Belfast city centre is to ban buskers and preachers from using amplification, February 21) presented a sensible solution to a Belfast city centre problem.
'The Story of Philosophy' by Will Durant describes 'the principle of tolerance' as follows: "The growth of one individual or one community is to be as little as possible at the expense of another."
The Easter creed rapidly conquered the ancient world, without any use of megaphones or loud pre-recorded messages.
The New Testament specifically says: 'But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.’
New Testament evangelists had absolute confidence in the witness of creation-conscience-Christ. There are said to be around 86 billion neurons in the human brain, with trillions of dendritic connection patterns possible as an individual processes information and makes choices.
The miracles of creation and conscience are self-evident, long before any Belfast city centre pavement preacher screws up their megaphone volume.
Saint Peter refers to an absolute need for 'gentleness and respect' when defending belief in the Easter resurrection creed – and a very famous Bible passage asserts the importance of 'the still small voice'.
James Hardy, By email