LOBBY Bring on the discussion
If, as Michael Short suggests, the Safe Schools Program is "simply about combating injustice by raising awareness" then I, like most Christians, would have no trouble with the program. The trouble is that Safe Schools is a lot more than that. Why is that its promoters and defenders will not even allow a debate about the philosophical world view that lies behind it? We live in a democracy and groups such as ACL and others have every right to put forward their point of view whether people like that view or not. If this program is so good, then it should be able to withstand proper public discussion and consideration. Bishop Stephen Hale, Mont Albert North
Bearing false witness 
Unlike Michael Short, I am religious. To be specific, I'm a Christian. I agree with him that the Australian Christian Lobby is exactly what you'd invent if you wanted to bring the religion into disrepute. The ACL violate several important Christian values. We are commanded not to bear false witness. The disingenuous nature of the ACL's crusade against marriage equality and Safe Schools breaks that commandment. Jesus Christ, the founder of the religion ACL director Lyle Shelton claims to share with me, told us to love God and each other. I see no signs of either love in the deeply unlovable ACL. Floyd Kermode, Preston
Bullying not confined
Michael Short's description of the Safe Schools program as "a benign and enlightened buttress to the curriculum" is a travesty of the truth but plays well to those who want to describe the program as one that is designed to prevent bullying in schools. We are all against bullying in schools, but bullying is not confined to those with gender identity problems. Michael Wills, Armadale
Not guru of our imaginations
While I appreciate Michael Short's apologetic attempt to reconcile the perceived conflict between the ACL and the teachings of Christ himself, I do feel that he has built his case around a straw-man Messiah. It is always so culturally convenient to claim that since Jesus was radical, progressive and attacked injustice, he must therefore have been, and continues to be, an ongoing champion for the individual rights of all minority groups. This, quite frankly, is an extraordinarily strained reading of the gospels. Jesus also never shied away from affirming where God's ideals for his human creation were at odds with the prevailing culture, and still needed to be adhered to. I can only do my best to encourage readers to make a judgment based on the words of the most influential and divisive man in history himself, rather than the ambiguous and politically correct guru of our own wishful imaginations.
Peter Waterhouse, Craigieburn
A surreal, repugnant comparison
Michael Short's observation that the ACL has a twisted way of upholding Christian values reminds me of a point made by author Christopher Hitchens, that if you want to make good people to do wicked things you'll need religion. The ACL certainly fit this description with their repugnant comparisons of the rise of LGBTI rights to the rise of Hitler's Nazi regime in Germany, an attempt so surreal one could be forgiven for thinking they'd adopted a Monty Pythonesque approach to lobbying. The ACL would do well to display the more appealing human values of humility, dignity and compassion rather than resort to delivering hurtful communiques on LGBTI issues. Paul Miller, Box Hill South