What’s a museum if it returns all the loot: stony broke?

I am not sure why it is called the British Museum in London, as it seems to mostly contain stuff the British stole (“Marbles return could set precedent”, July 26). Peter FitzSimons makes it clear in his chat with David Hill that the Parthenon Marbles ripped from the Parthenon in Athens with the compliance of the occupying Ottomans should be returned to Greece. When I was at the museum, I passed by many stolen treasures (booty?), and went down to see the amazing number of beautiful items from Benin, a country in Africa about which I did not know. It seems to have been a particularly brutal incursion. But then again, if the Brits did give back all the stuff they stole, what would they have left? Maybe bits of Stonehenge? Nola Tucker, Kiama

Hanson verbals single mums

Congratulations, Jacqueline Maley, on your dismantling of Pauline Hanson’s hateful non facts (“Forget crypto: single motherhood is Pauline’s get-rich-quick scheme”, July 25). My mother struggled to raise my sister and me from the 1940s. There was a stigma attached to divorced mothers, and she worried every day that our remarried father would claim custody of us. She was never allowed time off to attend our school functions. Sickness before Medicare was disastrous. She remarried badly, so she too could show a “respectable happy family”, and never had the wherewithal to escape that marriage. Mum never made it into the Senate, but she would never have spouted the sickening nonsense we hear from Pauline. Lynne Poleson, Kingsford

Pauline Hanson’s dismissal of the struggles faced by single mothers is hard to comprehend. Calling their situation a kind of “lottery” trivialises the reality: most women raising children alone do so under enormous pressure, not luck. The fact is that many women endure financial hardship, emotional strain, physical stress and constant fear. Collateral damage is their children, who may not be able to express but feel the stress of abuse. This isn’t the right place for political point-scoring. It’s a serious social issue involving real people who suffer because of coercive control, physical abuse and ongoing threats from ex-partners. Reducing that to a throwaway line is not just insensitive; it ignores the experience of thousands of families. This is an objectionable way of attracting manosphere MAGAs in Australia. The last thing we need is to throw away the progress made in making society a better and safer place, particularly for women and children. Mukul Desai, Hunters Hill

Lifestyle choices

The article about vasectomies (“Record number of men choose the snip”, July 26) fails to bring another possible reasoning into the equation. That of the present, often self-focused and egoistic, lifestyles that are increasingly replacing those of the more generous and altruistic nature of past human society. These seemed to incorporate children with more generosity, happiness and good old-fashioned love, though of course there are many young people to whom these values still apply. The often solipsistic lifestyle of today is not confined to the male species, but is also seen in the outwardly vacuous and self-serving life philosophies of many young (and older) women. I hesitate to agree that it’s mostly the welfare of the planet that these humans are thinking about when they make the decision to “go childless”. The shock to their lifestyles of having a child, with all the resultant chaos and loss of self time, would be too much for them to accommodate. Judy Finch, Taree

Dibs on leadership

An interesting article by Kylie Maddox Pidgeon (“Stained glass ceiling for this Christian church”, July 26). As a Catholic, I am not permitted to advocate for women priests. But I can congratulate the Anglican Church for ordaining women vicars. Who says that women cannot provide governance, doctrinal oversight and pastoral leadership? In my view, God-given roles depend on the content of one’s character, not gender. (The probation of women in such roles is only cultural, going back thousands of years. Do we wish to continue this in this enlightened age?) Ask the current Archbishop of Canterbury (a woman of outstanding ability). Perhaps the Anglicans were encouraged (or emboldened) by the popularity of TV’s Vicar of Dibley, starring Dawn French as a vicar. Pasquale Vartuli, Wahroonga

Donate to a good cause: life

Having read the heartbreaking story of Rebecca Wangmann’s loss of her precious Brooklyn (“The letter that changed Rebecca’s life after the loss of her child”, July 26), I would like to suggest that Australia adopt the Irish “Opt-Out” system, where adults are treated as willing donors unless they register an objection. Families or next of kin are always consulted after a person dies, and they have the final say before any donation. My organ donation card is in my wallet. I wonder who will find it if I am knocked over by a bus? Caroly Laurie, Walcha

Radical overhaul for all

As if rising inequality in education (and beyond) is not reason enough to find a solution to the despicable disparity between schools (Letters, July 26). As if ceasing government funding to private schools would actually be a real and acceptable option after all these decades. No, it’s time for a radical approach akin to that of the Catholic Church back in the 1960s and demand that private schools accept all public school students or risk losing their government funding. The extra state funding would boost those private schools even more. The freed up poor-cousin public schools? How about renovating them into public housing. Sound crazy? Too cheeky? Well, I’m liking it. Helen Lewin, Tumbi Umbi

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