I SUPPORT Sam Ditshego's letter "Respect African religion".

Contrary to the notion that Africans were heathens or kaffirs, they were spiritual long before they encountered Christianity. The Creator was referred to by Xhosas as Qamata, Zulus as Mvelinqangi, Khoisan as Kaggen and the Khoikhoi as Tsui. The predominant belief was that the departed were living in spiritual form as ancestors (a spiritual realm analogous to angels).

For a long time Satan, who epitomises evil, was depicted by some religions as a black male-like creature with horns, a tail and a fork and Jesus Christ, the Son of God, enjoyed the monopoly of a certain race. I have never heard any apologies from any church for such acts of racial denigration.

In her book, Wouldn't Take Nothing For My Journey Now, Maya Angelou wondered about the plight of her non-Christian departed friends since it was said that the departed were in the bosom of Christ.

An excerpt from a commentary on the Bhagavad-Gita As It Is , Swami Prabhupada states that acceptance of the Supreme Lord as the summum bonum of life enables one to life with the Lord and that service to one another is religious.

An intrinsic tenet of all religions is love-ubuntu and religious diversity reflects people' s racial, cultural and linguistic differences . We are all children of one Sovereign Lord and we should all be of service to one another and live in love with one another. And we should not be judgmental.

Sazi Nyathi, Kensington,

Johannesburg