I THINK the Vicar of Bolton, the Rev. Michael Williams, utters the most harmful drivel in his articles in your newspaper. Not content with his recent attack on marriage, he now makes mistaken and unfounded comments on capitalism (BEN: Dec 27).

The phenomenon of global warming (if it exists) may or may not be due to carbon dioxide emissions. What Mr Williams fails to understand, however, is that both capitalist and communist countries make such emissions. I think I am right in saying that the capitalist countries have done more to cut these emissions. The communist world also has a poorer record (overall) on other pollution. Remember Chernobyl.

Third world debt problems have given rise to much muddled thinking. The problem has been that so much of the money loaned to these countries has been spent on armaments or stolen by the (usually) left wing leaders of the countries concerned. If it had been invested in a proper capitalist way (as in Japan, Malaysia, etc) there would be little poverty to complain of. If the Rev. Williams wants to apportion blame for third world poverty, he should award a fair amount to those who pressed successfully for the granting of so-called independence to countries whose populations were not, and in many cases are not, sufficiently advanced to look after their own affairs.

The Rev. Williams refers to an "underclass" in Britain "who live permanently in debt and on benefits". Unlike the Rev. Williams, I have actually met some of these people and I can assure him that many of them have a higher material standard of living than people who are prepared to work for their living. The money to provide their benefits comes from the much derided capitalist system. I have every sympathy for the genuinely sick, disabled or unfortunate, but their numbers are much smaller than the Rev. Williams would have us believe.

The real poverty in Britain, and many other countries, is spiritual poverty, and a lot of this is the fault of clergymen and other church leaders. It is not unusual in my parish to find children who have spent seven years at the local church school and do not know so much as the Lord's Prayer. The local church now resembles a cross between a branch of the Labour Party and a drinking club. We need another Reformation to improve things.

S. R. Morgan,

Normanby Street,

Bolton.

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