Godless, but opinionated

Peta Simpson writes: Re. “With God on their side: when religion and politics collide” (Friday). What nonsense; everyone has a worldview. Will the atheists divorce themselves of that prism?

Bruce Gold writes: You’re onto a hot topic. I hope you run it further reviewing the business side of political religion or religion within politics.

What would our economy be if these institutions were taxed at corporate rates, as so many are “corporate”? Why has the lost revenue of religions never been researched? It would be worthy of a PhD candidature surely.

What does the public purse forego with a blanket tax exemption for all religions of any persuasions? Is their social value justified given how few Aussies admit to their supernatural?

Hockey’s free pass

Dylan Taylor writes: Re. “Hockey loses his mo-joe, shoots his mouth off” (Friday). Many thanks Bernard for highlighting the stupid remarks of Joe Hockey — who seems to think he has to jump up and say something  every single time a reporter turns up with a microphone.

Strangely the ABC  seemed to miss all those howlers — not even a mention of the contradiction on the falling dollar! Had Swan made a similar mistake ( as he once did about the rate of unemployment) he would have been pilloried in every news broadcast.

The government we deserve

John Richardson writes: Re. “O’Farrell breaks promise, gifts $250m to Packer in two days” (Friday). Stephen Mayne decries the wicked success of crony-capitalism in Australia in the wake of the latest public handout to James Packer, but he neglects to mention that it has thus always been so.

While  I’m not defending the scandalous duplicity evidenced by “Barangaroo Barry”, the fact remains that if Australians were going to demand better standards of governance from their political masters, they would have done so long ago. In the words of Edward R. Murrow: “A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves.”

Food for thought

Michael Kennedy writes: Re. “Gentlemen who lunch (or do they?)” (Friday). I was shocked to hear of Guy Rundle’s behaviour in not paying; mind you, once I read that he’d gone to Brighton Grammar, it all became clear.

Although, I understand that Gerard Henderson went to Xavier, which may explain even more.