No, it’s not just you. They must have the same mentor.

[Daphne – No. I learned a long time ago that it is pointless to argue about religion because religious people are by very definition irrational, and so it invariably ends badly and goes nowhere. Incidentally, I don’t like listening to other people argue about religion, either, and I especially can’t stand people arguing against religion. It’s not religion that bothers me, but the inability of religion people to understand that there’s a time and place for everything.]

Daphne, a lot of people integrate religious beliefs and culture under one roof and they find it hard to separate the two.

[Daphne – On the contrary, they don’t find it hard to separate the two at all. Separating religion from life is what Maltese pseudo-Catholics do best. Religion is something they practice only through rites and symbolism, and they’re dangerous as hell the rest of the time.]

[Daphne – Civilised countries and people do not impose their religious symbols on others in secular fora or offices used by non-religious people for non-religious matters. That’s why I find northern Europe so refreshing: no religious symbols except where they strictly belong, in churches and similar.]

It is a whole year and includes all of Malta. It should encompass some past culture but mostly present day and future.

On the other question on whether we could change the programme at a late stage, my answer is GOK. – God Only Knows.

Can confirm that. Actually it is the only decent thing in that office even more when compared to the occupant.

That picture at the back is NOT a tacky print of Jesus Christ’s face. It is an original self-portrait painting by artist Anton Calleja.

It’s not a print. If I can remember well that painting was donated to Super One during a Sunday afternoon show by the painter himself. Check your facts.

Abiding by the same argument, all government offices, schools, police stations etc etc ought to remove the crucifixes.

[Daphne – Yes, and if you were a regular reader of mine, you would know that I think they should. People who are fervent Catholics, or who grow up in homes where these symbols are taken for granted, don’t even ‘see’ them or take them as part of the furniture. To everyone else they are threatening and make them feel uncomfortable. If Islam were a religion that permitted symbolism, how comfortable would you feel going into a police station decorated with Islamic symbols? And how about an Israeli police station decorated with prominent Jewish symbols? These things have no place in secular offices which are there to serve everyone. As for classrooms, the crucifix is a graphic portrayal of absolutely hideous and cruel torture and has no place where there are children. A man nailed to a cross, with a ring of thorns around his head, as a suitable wall decoration in the presence of toddlers – seriously?]