‘Incredulous thinking’

Dear Editor:

RE: Beliefs not shared, March 28.

So there really are people like Hank Davis who think that items, such as a holy book, should not be included in a public library because those books do not represent some element of shared belief in the public sphere. I find his rationale to be extremely parochial. 

First, has Mr. Davis not read the first dozen words of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms where the supremacy of God is acknowledged? 

Secondly, is not any public library a community’s initial source of information for research on any topic? How would Mr. Davis expect the sincerely inquisitive mind do preliminary research on world religions, a topic which is frequently the source of human conflict, unless the local library has a contingent of holy books on its shelves? 

Thirdly, extending his rationale, would Mr. Davis have all books on the environment, or on climate change, or on vaccination protocol, or on child rearing, or on any myriad of topics of public interest, removed from the library simply because his beliefs on these topics are “not shared” with other members of his community? 

Incredulous thinking. 

David Fast,
Ariss