"Christianity does not equate with socialism" (Letters, April 7): good headline, bad argument.

A few questions - whose Christianity? Whose Socialism?

The sermon on the mount is a pretty good blueprint for something approaching socialism but then not every Christian knows about the sermon on the mount, much less understands its implications.

Equally, Stalin and his kind believed their murderous antics were pure socialism - who today seriously agrees, outside the pages of our right-wing and tabloid press?

Further, Jesus Christ was an admitted agitator ("I bring not peace but the sword") and was tried as such by the Roman occupying forces.

At least they tried him before executing him, unlike modern Israel which assassinates agitators with total impunity, especially when Sharon's corruption is about to be exposed in the high court.

People tend to forget one simple but important fact of history. There was no Christianity in Christ's lifetime.

What became known much later as Christianity was the result of a ragbag of teachings culled from various Jewish sects, including those of Jesus and his followers, and codified during the decades following his execution by teachers such as St Paul, who came out on top during the struggles of the early church.

What is the psychological impact on its followers of having an instrument of torture as the primary symbol of Christianity? Not original but, I hope, provocative nonetheless.

-Rashid Karapiet, Brighton