Letter: Insult to druids

Sir: It was bad enough that a group of people seeking to flex their anarchic muscles at Stonehenge prevented the assembled druids, pagans and other celebrants from carrying out their arranged ceremony on Monday. But then Deborah Orr added insult to injury (Comment, 22 June) with her casual dismissal of the druids and pagans as participants in "a morning of neo-Neolithic play-acting".

Paganism is a spiritual path which deserves the same degree of respect as Christianity, Judaism and Islam. It is not a bunch of people who just dress up and pretend. Not all druids are necessarily from pagan faiths - indeed the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids welcomes all faiths. Describing participants as "mildly barking" and "farting about in robes" is equally offensive to anyone who celebrates the Solstice as a festival.

The ceremonies are as "cod" as a Catholic mass. If such desultory comments had been directed, say, at the Islamic faith, Ms Orr would have been reprimanded.

ROGER KELLY

Luton,

Bedfordshire