Letter: Easter's meaning

Sir: I think it sad that someone as obviously intelligent as Will Self ("Why I Hate Easter", 2 April) cannot see beyond the man-made trappings of Easter to the significance of the festival.

Simply because centuries of Western ideas have rendered the scenes of Holy Week, the Crucifixion and the Resurrection to fit our own cultural view, it does not mean that the events should be cast aside as farce.

Does anyone imagine the Pharisees spoke "Standard - RP even - English" or gave allegiance to such a ludicrous figure as a toga-and-laurel-bedecked Pilate?

It truly irritates me when a faith is put down because of the images with which generations of leaders have adorned it. It would be helpful if we looked beyond what is outer and, before feeling justified in demoting Christianity to the ranks of Aesop's Fables, tried to learn rather than make a passing judgement on what is easy to merely look at.

NEIA GLYNN

Tolworth, Surrey