Contrary to the view of your correspondent Robert Readman (Your Say, February 3), I am of the firm opinion that Pope Benedict is perfectly correct in repealing Bishop Richard Williamson's excommunication.

The ravings of the politically correct brigade have already served to diminish much what was once good about the British way of life, but now there appears a large cohort of people who would seek to undermine democracy even further. Just what sort of society will we be if people are not allowed to have opinions that differ from the mainstream?

While I would certainly not seek to deny the Holocaust, that doesn't mean that I would expect others to hold my point of view. I subscribe to the theory of evolution, but that doesn't mean that Creationists are not entitled to try and convince me of their belief.

The lessons of history, such as Hitler's burning of the books, and the besmirching of Richard III by the subsequent Tudor monarchs, demonstrate the dangers of constraining public opinion. Therefore, the actions of the Austrian Government in going so far as to use the full majesty of the law against those who have the temerity to deny the Holocaust is hardly the actions of a democratic society.

Everyone should be free to hold and express opinions, thereby leading to discussions which give opportunity to change those with extreme views.

Unfortunately, democracy scarcely exists as demonstrated most aptly by the so-called land of the free.

America has never been deserving of such a name as demonstrated by its treatment of both the blacks and the native inhabitants of the country. For a nation that espouses democracy, it is ironic that it produced the communist witch-hunts of the 1950s and the recent disgrace of Guantanamo Bay.

Fortunately, the new President is closing Guantanamo Bay down, so we only hope that he has a better understanding of what democracy really means than many of his predecessors.

David Woods Redfield Bristol