LETTER: Flying pigs

HENRY PORTER tells us that we can no longer rely upon logic and language ("How to survive the 21st century", Sunday Review, 9 April). But why, when listing trends in ethics, are only trends in religious behaviour cited? Non-attendance at religious services is a poor indicator of low ethical standards.

The non-religious "trend" references are not trends at all; they merely cite what is happening now, without any past comparison. Why is the ability to "extinguish the possibility of a life" viewed as something new, for the next century? We have exercised that ability for years - through sexual abstinence and widespread contraception.

I'm trying to be logical. Mind you, we are also told that texts can be interpreted in any way we want, so perhaps we may as well interpret Mr Porter's text and this as being about flying pigs.

Peter Cave

London NW3