Dear Sir/Madam,

It is hardly surprising that many children are unable to understand even the basic tenants of Christianity, as reported in last Sunday's Telegraph (Churches call for Christianity to be part of national syllabus, 14 September 2003), since I know of no adults who understand them. They are so irrational and improbable that they cannot possibly be understood, only accepted on faith, and perhaps rationalised by a highly developed and well-trained intellect, or - more sensibly - rejected as nonsense.

There is no denying Christianity's historical, cultural and (in some respects) ethical importance, and in this context it needs a prominent place in the national syllabus, certainly for native Britons, but it should not be taught as the churches would have it taught, as historical fact and a true view of reality. The most basic tenet of Christianity is manifestly absurd: belief in Jesus Christ as the "Son of God" (a deity himself and miracle worker) who died on the cross for our salvation and the forgiveness of our sins.

There was a time when I would not have had the courage to write the above, so intimidated was I still by Christian teaching that rejecting Jesus would condemn me to hellfire. The Bible, and Jesus himself, are very clear about that. But I decided that a God, Prophet or Religion which used intimidation to elicit belief were not for me.

Other religions do not appeal to me either. So what do I do about my profound need to believe in "God", "Providence" a "higher authority", or whatever one chooses to call it?

What I have done, or rather, am doing, is this: I am creating my own (concept of) God, philosophy (view of the world) and system of morals (rules of right behaviour) which, if others were to share them with me, would constitute a new religion (L. re ligare = to bind together). At the moment I am still enjoying the freedom and harmony of having my region all to myself.

Judo-Christianity, it seems to me, is based on the entirely false assumption that God created man in his own image. In fact, as the Greek philosopher, Xenophanes, pointed out several centuries before the birth of Jesus, it is man who creates the gods (or God) in his own human image. This false assumption, I am sure, has been responsible for most of our religious strife.

What we need are new religions (not just mine; the more the merrier!) based on the far more enlightened and democratic assumption that it is us (man) who create our differing concepts of God and views of reality and morality. Then we can discuss matters of importance on an equal footing, without anyone being able to claim special, divine or absolute authority from some supposedly sacred texts (the Bible, or whatever), which all too often makes agreement and compromise either totally superficial or quite impossible.