JOHN Severs' letter praising primary schools which decided not to put on Nativity plays this Christmas (HAS, Dec 19) is typical of those who fear to tread in case they offend other religious groups.

Does he truly believe other faiths begrudge Christians their traditions and celebrations?

Mr Severs also questions whether the Nativity can be scientifically proved. That is another matter, but can we not say that about all religious happenings?

Nativity plays have a magical and mystical theme which can be enjoyed by children and adults whether they believe in the birth of Jesus or not.

As far as Mr Severs' assertion that Nativity plays cause problems for non-believer parents, does he also believe these parents ban Father Christmas?

Long live Nativity plays. Children grow up and are then able to decide their beliefs and whether there truly is a Santa or not.

Kev Mcstravick, Darlington.

I TAKE issue with John Severs (HAS, Dec 19). Once more we have the familiar spurious notion that Nativity plays upset people from other faiths. What nonsense.

Attendance is, after all, voluntary.

The rest of Mr Severs' letter seems to set about rubbishing religious ideas generally. Whatever his perceptions of Jesus Christ may be, he certainly existed in physical form. Not only do we have the Gospel narratives relating his falling foul of authority, but none other than the Roman historian Tacitus chronicles the execution of "The Christos" during the reign of Tiberius by order of the procurator, Pontius Pilate.

The world is full of killjoys. As I said previously (HAS, Dec 13), children love acting out this human drama and they can make up their own minds about its religious significance as they grow older.

Peter Hill, School Aycliffe, Co Durham.

I MUST thank John Severs for his letter about Nativity plays (HAS, Dec 19). It perfectly summed up what is wrong with this country in its condemnation of these plays as historically inaccurate and offensive to religions other than Christianity.

I think you'll find that the iconic parts of all religions are in the main historically inaccurate. The point of Nativity plays is to tell the Christmas story, true or not, and give the children a chance to enjoy themselves.

What next? Shall we ban the singing of The Lambton Worm because it's biologically inaccurate?

Paul Dobson, Bishop Auckland, Co Durham.

JOHN Severs' comments (HAS, Dec 19) appear to becoming all too popular in a society that is turning its head to materialism and forgetting the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ. At this time of year we celebrate a season of hope when the birth of Christ brought forgiveness and redemption to a sinful world.

Look around today and what you see is increases in violence, drinking, crime, disease, families living in fear, and compare this to 50 years ago when Christianity was valued in our nation, when people cared for one another.

Until we look back to our faith, the decline in morals and a society that lacks respect and decency will continue.

This should be a time when we think of what Jesus said and take time to visit a lonely old person, or phone someone who has lost a loved one, or even just be kind for a day.

If we all did that, we really would put Christ back into Christmas and remember the real reason for this season, and that is Jesus Christ.

Mike Gallagher, Acklam, Middlesbrough.