RELIGION AND REALITY

SHEILA CASSIDY, writer and medic, was imprisoned and tortured by Pinochet’s faschist regime in Chile in the 70s. Her crime had been to give medical aid to activists struggling for justice.

During a radio program two of her favourite pieces of music were played. The first was Beethoven’s Ode To Joy, sung in Spanish. The second was A Touching Place. When asked why she’d chosen this, she replied, ‘It talks about faith in real life, ... about being there for the the women defiled, for the bereaved, for the people who’ve lost a child, and I can’t be doing with any kind religion which can’t take in the pains and sorrows and realities of this life. So that’s one of the reasons why I love it so much...’