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26 Letters maltatoday, SUNDAY, 15 DECEMBER 2013 Send your letters to: The Editor, MaltaToday, MediaToday Ltd. Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN 9016 | Fax: (356) 21 385075 E-mail: newsroom@mediatoday.com.mt. Letters to the Editor should be concise. No pen names are accepted. Through evil and suffering exist, a loving God can alleviate its pain With reference to John Guillaumier's letter published on the 8 December edition of this newspaper: I do not consider him arrogant and bigoted. Everybody, at some time makes the same question. When Pope John Paul II visited Auschwitz, he explained, "where was God?" Jesus himself before his passion and death, put the same question to the Father, "My God, my God, why has thou forsaken me?" I just condemn him for exposing his tsunami of opprobrium against any religious sentiment. He knows pretty well that the answer to that mystery requires a titanic treatise which would require volumes, not a letter. But I advise him to read appropriate books of religious inspiration and try to narrow and possibly close the gap between his theory and other beliefs. It is beyond me to annihilate and rebut such an exposure. I can only revert to micrology (just one paragraph, a drop in the ocean), and a quotation. I refer to deicide. The death of God himself on the cross. At the time, nobody saw how anything good could ever result from this tragedy. And yet God foresaw it as the opening of heaven to human beings. So the worst tragedy in history brought about the most glorious event in history. And if it happened there – if the ultimate evil can result in the ultimate good – it can happen elsewhere, even in our own individual and collective lives. Here, God lifts the curtain and lets us see it. Elsewhere, he simply says, "trust me". The prominent British pastor John CHOGM Conference In a section of the local press, Austin Sammut ridicules Phyllis Muscat for being appointed co-ordinator of the forthcoming CHOGM Conference. Each time he writes in public, Sammut has to give us a high dose of his snobbish prejudice, which implies that one must be a Nationalist in order to be appointed to a public office and also, that they have to be male in order to qualify Download the MaltaToday App now for it. It is amazing how this hideous method to ridicule a person in public – just because she is relatively unknown and does not belong to one's class – is allowed to take place unchallenged. One wonders where our feminist lobby is. Phyllis Muscat has nothing to be ashamed of. Going by Sammut's own input to his party in the last elections, as compared to Muscat's results in organisation, the best thing Dr Sammut should do is to have a good look at his face in front of the nearest mirror. I pray that Muscat will do a magnificent job, as she has always done, so that Sammut, sitting pretty on the fence as always, will be the one to lump it and to owe her a public apology. Ann M Grima Mellieha R.W. Stott, who acknowledged that suffering is "the single greatest challenge to the Christian faith", reached his own conclusion: 'I could never myself believe in God, if it were not for the cross... in the real world of pain, how could one worship a God who was immune to it? I have entered many Buddhist temples, in different Asian countries and stood respectfully before the statue of Buddha, his legs crossed, arms folded, eyes closed, the ghost of a smile playing round his mouth, a remote look on his face, detached from the agonies of the world. But each time after a while, I have had to turn away. And in imagination I have turned instead to that lovely, twisted, tortured figure on the cross, nails though hands and feet, back lacerated, limbs wrenched, brow bleeding from thorn-pricks, mouth dry and intolerably thirsty, plunged in God-forsaken darkness. That is the God for me! He laid aside his immunity to pain. He entered our world of flesh and blood, tears and death. He suffered for us. Our sufferings become more manageable in light of his. There is still a question mark against human suffering, but over it we boldly stamp another mark, the cross, which symbolises divine suffering. The cross of Christ... is God's only self-justification in such a world as ours.' If is say to J.G. that the greatest Christians in history, seem to say that their sufferings ended up bringing them the closest to God – so that was the best thing that could happen, not the worst, that would mean nothing to him, being an agnostic. If I quote the apostle Paul, 'suffering reduces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope, he would be insensitive to the message – we still don't know faith even exists yet'. So I can only concentrate on one person, who in reality bore the burden of the deprecations and sins of all humanity, otherwise there are volumes and volumes to contemplate and ruminate upon. But these are only found in books of Christian inspiration, written for the intellectual, the doubter and the inquisitive – all three qualities, he possesses. You are what you read. John Azzopardi Zabbar Protecting the environment without being negative I went for a stroll along the beautiful panoramic pedestrian coast of Qawra, starting from where there are the two towers of seven storeys high buildings at Qawra Point going back to the late sixties. I was pleased to observe how the planners of the time set out to design a peaceful residential area without much fuss or controversy but certainly in good taste. The land has a circle road around it and there are areas for lockup garages and plenty of space for landscaping. The right blend between built up and open grounds is so evident for all to see. I ask myself, is it asking too much to have buildings well organised as this? Nothing out of the ordinary. The project withstood 40 years of structural contest and still holds firm. We should feel ashamed that we have not been able to even keep to that basic standard. Our regulators should have known better in these last decades. This brings me to my conclusion. Environmental groups have a very important role to play in keeping on check the environmental progress of our country. I, very strongly, associate myself with them. However, the way they are lobbying right now, and not so much as they used to before, raises my eyebrows. Are there among them who are fundamentalists? Do they really want to kill our construction industry and the profession of our architects and civil engineers? Is it the case that some of the promoters, few as they may be among the many genuine members, have a partisan political agenda of their own? I am a strong believer of environmental protection. Over the years, I have tried many times to denounce the destruction of gardens, large and small, in our villages. Regrettably, all my efforts fell on deaf ears, no matter how expensive had been the cars that were driving MEPA at the time! I however disassociate myself from the radical approach being taken by our Environmental groups this time. It verges on the fundamentalist. It threatens the initiatives and creativity expected from our architectural and civil engineering profession. And these do a great job if only society has faith in them. It is one thing condemning shoddy projects. It is another criticising with ulterior motives well-planned developments and investments. Joseph Camilleri Mosta Making Europe useful EDITORIAL • 14 DECEMBER 2003 Europe has not featured in this leader for some time now. The reason being that there is nothing to say about Europe. Even the constitution offers little in terms of excitation potential. The only topic that appears to have triggered off a reaction in most Maltese is the absence of any mention of the word 'Christianity' in the proposed constitution. The budget confirmed that there would be little or no money from the European Union. The PM's reaction to Labour's budget speech turned out to be an orgy for Europe but there was nothing little in terms of content and vision. Apart from Europe, Europe and Europe there are more valid arguments to counter Dr Sant in parliament. Which brings us to the central issue in today's argumentation. The future of Malta in Europe is not to be decided by our politicians and the legal implications of our transition into Europe can only depend on what happens in the European parliament. Beyond this, the Maltese will have to accept the destiny that awaits them. This is not in itself a completely negative development. In the environmental and social field it will definitely help us to grind the environmental deficit we suffer from and the social reforms that have been stalled because of inertia from politicians lacking in decisiveness. In competition and consumer rights, Europe will provide opportunities and new horizons, as in the cultural and educational camp, where Europe has so much to offer. In security and democratisation, Europe will present us with guarantees that can only be embraced and welcomed. On the other hand, Europe will bring uncomfortable equality and uniformity among nations which will do much to dent our national pride, trim our nationhood and make sovereignty less of a central issue. It will also limit our flexibility, our tax regime, and our incessant interest in running our budget at a deficit and living beyond our means. And yes, to all those who refuse to believe that Malta could one fine day choose to walk out of the European Union, let us not be quite too sure about this. If Europe fails to meet the expectations of us Maltese, then as all good Islanders do, we will swim upstream and do the unthinkable. We all know that there is no pain without gain. But there is a limit to pain and no gain. And Dr Fenech Adami cannot go on singing the song for Europe and bank on the illustrious high ideal of Europe to convince us that the future is all roses… when it may not be the case.