Mr J. M. Briffa’s letter entitled The Negatives (TMID, 2 March) implies that anyone who disagrees with his line of reasoning or values is a negative person. What a fine way of reasoning.

Mr Briffa also follows the rhetoric that issues such as divorce are not really rights. I know some people are so insular that they never look beyond our shores, but denial of the existence of these civil rights in the rest of the world are tantamount to a denial of reality. This is, unfortunately, the classical problem with such people who try to make believe that in Malta we are a near-perfect Vatican satellite state. Reality proves our island nation has the same issues as the rest of the western world.

Mr Briffa’s solution to all his perceived negatives is a “positive” education (sic). How do you educate people suffering from a broken marriage that includes adultery or violence or both? How do you educate someone who has been abandoned by their husband/wife about the positives of marriage? Maybe by suggesting that she/he has to endure the rest of their life alone because divorce is not an option in Catholic Malta? How do you educate people about the benefits of marriage when it turns out to be a marriage made in hell?

The truth is that people who separate or want divorce are not negative people but people whose life is passing through a negative period. Turning a blind eye to the fact that marriages do break down is a denial of reality. The fact that people are in favour of divorce means that they are in favour of marriage and not the other way around. There are several people I know who are separated and would never remarry. Those who want divorce are those who believe in the value of marriage.

In practically all countries in the world, the State provides a legal framework to enable these people to move on. Not in Malta, however, because our politicians are either spineless or else still live in fear of the shrinking Church influence.

My view is that the denial of the right to divorce is the biggest negative in a country that pretends to be at par with our European neighbours. I think that if more people like myself use their vote wisely next time, we may see some needed changes. Sure, I believe in education for successful marriages but from Mr Briffa’s letter it is obvious that some people still do not understand the realities of divorce, tolerance and reality.

These people persist in calling for divorce prohibition even for those who do not share their religious values. Now, who is really negative here?

John Abela

Attard