HARRY POTTER

SOME people are worried that the content and subject matter of the Harry Potter books might lead a generation to have a damaging interest in witchcraft.

I have been more or less happy with the books on two counts.

Firstly, I have been satisfied that the setting and the plot are so far removed from reality that the books present no real risk in being taken seriously. Secondly, I have been amazed at the eagerness of children, both boys and girls, to devour full-length, well-written novels.

I was concerned, however, to read as part of your Harry Potter week, an interview with a present day witch (Echo, Nov 5) and I question your paper's wisdom in doing this.

I'm sure that most people would regard modern-day witchcraft as being nothing other than the misguided antics of a few cranks - more to be pitied than taken seriously. However, this is not the case.

When we speak of witchcraft we are dealing with spiritual matters and things that effect the soul. If Jesus is the "light of the world", then witchcraft and all that is associated with it has to be the opposite.

We need to keep things in perspective of course. Children love stories and fantasy stories are harmless enough, but we must also remember that our children are now exposed to many influences today that are far from healthy.

They need to be guided in their lives into the "light" and not into the "darkness".

I would suggest that, by including this interview as part of a children's feature, your paper appears to be making light of witchcraft which is, to my mind, most regrettable. - G Pentelow (Christian school-worker in Darlington and District).

WAR ON TERRORISM

CM Johnson (HAS, Nov 1) is right. We did win the last war, and the one before that, both with American help, without which we would not have survived as a nation.

He states that this Afghan conflict is not our fight, but neither were the 1914 or 1939 wars America's fight. We have a duty to help them against world terrorism. The twin towers could just as easily have been the House of Commons.

He also implies that the Americans lack the will to fight. This is just not so. Speaking from experience in 1944, nothing could be further from the truth, and there are dozens of ex-servicemen who will agree. - D Bowe, Wolsingham.

HAVING okayed the current war against terrorism, that is on moral grounds, the Archbishop of Canterbury might care to say just what he himself makes of the Book of Timothy, in the Bible, which says that the love of money is the root of all evil.

I should have thought that the lack of money is a much bigger problem than anything else pecuniary. Try living without it.

And regarding financial matters, is the Bible's advice really much use? To begin with, Jesus, in the Temple, told those money changers to give their money to the many poor. Coming from a man who had never himself had any dealings with money, what are Christians to make of such advice. Let's hear what the aforementioned Archbishop has to say about this business.

Meanwhile, anybody with any sense knows full well that if the rich actually gave all of their money away, what would very soon happen to it, is that it most certainly would not multiply. - Alfred H Lister, Guisborough.

P LEWIS (HAS, Nov 2) seems to imply that I don't know how horrific the events of September 11 were. I am quite aware.

My grandson and his regiment are on standby to go to Afghanistan while Mr Lewis and Peter Mullen glorify war.

They go to fight an enemy armed with weapons given to them by the West. A reporter on TV a couple of weeks ago described this as ironic. I call it tragic.

Peter Mullen's calling is to comfort, give hope and preach God's word. If he would rather preach the opposite, he should remove his dog collar.

You have a strange idea of a brave man, Mr Lewis. It is easy to speak your mind from the comfort of a privileged lifestyle, and a complete disregard of right or wrong.

Still, you must be a very contented man. There can be no truer saying than ignorance is bliss. - AE Hodgson, Middlesbrough.

NORTHERN IRELAND

THERE are troublespots all over the world, but the people who have the most of my sympathy are those from our own unhappy province of Ulster.

I have met and worked with a lot of Irish people who came over here to get away from the Troubles. Without exception, I found them to be peace-loving, conscientious, hard-working, friendly people. Their sense of humour can be contagious, they continually remind me that you need a sense of humour to live in Ulster, where children are spat at on their way to school.

Though these people are not of my religious persuasion, that has never been a barrier between us.

Yet, when the word peace is used in Ulster, two men immediately cry out in outrage: namely the Rev Ian Paisley and the Rev Peter Mullen. How ironic that these men of the cloth profess to love their neighbours.

Unfortunately, there will always be mavericks whose aim is to sabotage the peace process.

Since I also have Christian beliefs, I was delighted when Ian Paisley failed in his attempt to dislodge David Trimble. - S Blunt, Peterlee.

REPUBLICANISM

DEMOTING the British aristocracy, Royalty included, amounts to no more than a pipedream (HAS, Nov 7).

It took a people's revolution in France to get shot of the aristocracy. And what a particularly nasty business this belligerency was: the mob, out of control, went mad, and heads galore rolled.

Absolutism's demise here in Britain went with the English Revolution (17th Century). Here was a war between the Crown and the landed gentry. The Crown lost the war, which culminated in the end of absolutism.

Class transcends all social boundaries, which is why our Queen, the epitome of elegance and refinement, makes an excellent foreign ambassador. Just take a good look at our sophisticated Queen and then think, if you can, of any other woman of such high calibre.

Agreed, Buckingham Palace amounts to "the largest council house in Westminster" but isn't it impressive? More so as the Queen's residence.

Perhaps pro-Republicans can't recognise high culture. - Alfred H Lister, Guisborough.

RAIL SERVICES

IT beggars belief that, on weekdays, Arriva have cancelled six journeys north of York from Manchester Airport to Middlesbrough (five on a Saturday) with corresponding return journeys, while continuing to run the four-times-a-day journeys between Manchester Airport and Newcastle.

These latter four journeys run non-stop between York and Darlington and these passengers could have been readily accommodated on alternative GNER or Virgin Cross Country services, whereas passengers for Thirsk, Northallerton, Yarm, Thornaby and Middlesbrough using the cancelled services are now, in many cases, faced with a lengthy bus journey to and from York.

My alternative would have saved Arriva the cost of hiring alternative bus transport, but one suspects such an obvious plan was not adopted because, whereas Arriva is the sole rail passenger operator between Northallerton and Middlesbrough, GNER and Virgin also run between York and Darlington.

Perhaps the revised rail service at Northallerton reflects a sign of things to come if Arriva gain the new Transpennine rail franchise, and this is something which should be closely watched by the Strategic Rail Authority and local rail passengers committee. - John Buckle, Northallerton.

POLICE SERVICE

CAN anyone tell me what the police are supposed to be for? I mean, they consume a huge chunk of our council tax and yet are largely invisible.

As for any crime victim daft enough to report the fact to them, he or she is guaranteed of being messed around, with utter futility as the only outcome.

And when they do show up, it is usually to make a ruddy nuisance of themselves, like the way they harass law-abiding motorists over petty technicalities.

So, I recommend winding up the police force and giving every householder a gun, to be used as and when appropriate. This should be cost-effective and cut crime dramatically. - Tony Kelly, Crook.

ANNE FRANK

ON behalf of the Anne Frank Trust UK, I would like to thank The Northern Echo for the wonderful support it has given to the Anne Frank exhibition at Hartlepool Art Gallery throughout October.

The tremendous response from public and schools has been in no small part due to your enthusiastic, yet sensitive, coverage of the event.

We would also like to thank Hartlepool Borough Council for its determination that the local schools and community should see and learn from its messages.

The Anne Frank Trust, which is celebrating its tenth anniversary this month, is a British charity that draws on the power of Anne Frank's diary to inspire and educate a new generation to help build a world of mutual respect, compassion, and social justice. - G Walnes, The Anne Frank Trust UK, London.