With regard to Abdullah Mohd Zin's letter, 'Secularism is not neutral', (Aug 21), firstly, I'm not familiar with the situation in France or Turkey but since I'm in the US, I can comment a bit on what he says about this country.

I've been in the US for almost nine years. I have not in my lifetime seen or heard anything such as it being illegal to pray in public.

At Pier39 in San Francisco (speakers corner), you could set up a microphone and start praying as loud as you want.

Bear in mind that the US was established by a number of founders who think that citizens have the right to rise up and resist the government if their basic rights are threatened. Among this rights are freedom and pursuance of happiness. So what the writer alleged about the US can't happen as it is in conflict with the very foundation that the country was built on.

On the issue of the right to practise and right to propagate other religions, there are religions that are predominantly of a certain race. By stopping the propagation of a religion, wouldn't that bring about the sterilisation of the race associated with it then? Would that be a humane thing to do?