Two pieces of news made my month. One is that Archbishop Hollingworth of the Uniting Church has been named the next Governor General of Australia.

I have known of Archbishop Hollingworth for some time now. He has been a vociferous critic of the Australian government (of whatever persuasion) for a long time. He has spoken out against government policies which spell unfairness to the poor or against any policies which smack of discrimination of any kind. He has spoken against police brutality. Archbishop Hollingworth does not confine his Christian beliefs to the four walls of the church - he speaks out against injustice for Christians and non-Christians alike.

The other piece of news is really a letter which appeared in your e-daily.

I was very encouraged to read Ashamed Evangelical's letter 'May God forgive us for our silence' (May 7).

Not all Christians are apathetic to the happenings going on in our country. Even if the Church dare not speak out against the government for all the injustices that go on, it does not mean that their silence speak for all Christians.

What is the Church's stand on corruption, croynism, the plight of the Orang Asli, the enviroment, education, the ISA? If silence means consent then one can deduce that the Church agrees with what the government has done.

I suppose it is too much to ask of our church leaders to speak out openly against unchristian deeds especially if the perpetrator is the government. This entails risks and the Church leaders are not prepared to act and let God take care of the consequences.

The letter by Just another Evangelical ('Best left to God', May 9) is a typical cop-out by the Church hierarchy - when the questions get too tough just say "... leave it to God."

More than that, the tone of the letter seems to say "... leave it to us. We are the font of all knowledge - we know things you don't. We know what we are doing; after all you are lay people, what do you know? We are the ones with the hot line to God (and to Mahathir) Don't question us".

This is the very same attitude often taken by our prime minister.

By inviting Dr Mahathir Mohamad to open the World Evangelical Fellowship Meeting, the churches have in fact given Mahathir their stamp of approval for all he has done. And by telling the rest of us to "leave it to God" the church is in fact telling us it is not prepared to do anything.

Would it be appropriate to invite Hitler (if he can be raised Lazarus-like) to open The World Jewish Conference on the Holocaust?

Can the church leaders not find a more appropriate and deserving person to open the meeting? The whole thing stinks of someone sucking up to the PM.

If only there is half a Hollingworth among our church leaders.