Sir, - Peter A. Grehan says (September 14th): "Surely it is closer to the truth to say that any virtuous person who follows faithfully the dictates of his own religion will experience after death that state of contentment that we call Heaven." If he had omitted the words "who follows faithfully the dictates of his own religion" and had "may experience" instead of "will experience" I would agree. After all, there are religions with dictates which conflict with Christ's injunction to love unconditionally.
Otherwise I would agree that even virtuous people who are followers of the religion of secularism - they gamble on life ending at death - may find to their surprise that Heaven awaits them after they die. Of course, virtuousness being, like viciousness, a matter of degree, the degrees of heavenly contentment which await them and everyone else may vary considerably, as may corresponding degrees of discontentment. - Yours, etc.,
Joe Foyle,
Sandford Road,
Ranelagh,
Dublin 6.