From Simon Wells
WITH reference to Michael de Petrovsky’s letter (JEP, 2 June) about Mr Oates’s claim that he went to Heaven in 2002, I myself was quite concerned while reading the Faith section of your paper that particular evening.

Although everyone is entitled to have a faith in what they choose, I believe Mr Oates’s claim should be taken with a pinch of salt by most level headed people, but taken with caution depending how vulnerable a person may be.

To me this claim comes across as something you would read from the mind, body and spirit section of a book shop, and the kind of literature someone would believe hands down if they were psychologically fragile and looking for ways to make sense of a life they do not understand.

However, most evangelists will tell you that it’s all about faith, and if you believe strongly enough it will happen, but countless self-help books will tell you pretty much the same anyway when it comes to a need to obtain things you haven’t got.

There are psychiatric wards containing patients who have been sucked into this fanciful lifestyle in their pasts, and my concern is that this claim that has been made by Mr Oates, and others like him, could be very damaging psychologically.