According to a report in The Times (October 15) the president of the Move movement at University claimed that "progressives believe everyone should have the right to choose and make their own decisions without anyone or anything imposing what should or should not be done".

This is alarmingly dangerous especially when it comes from University students who should be the crème de la crème when it comes to trained brain power.

If you look at it from one angle, this definition of "progressives" is tantamount to everyone setting himself up as God. It takes us right back to Adam and Eve and original sin. What is so progressive about that?

If you don't believe in God (as you have every right to do - God Himself gives you this right, so it is not debatable), you look at University as a "secular education institution", as Gaby Scicluna claims in the same report. But even the State has its laws and regulations to safeguard the rights of individuals and society as a whole - at least in democratic states. What the "progressives" are proposing leads right back to the law of the jungle, which unfortunately still prevails in states which are anything but democratic.

The Move manifesto fails to be really "progressive" whichever point of view you take, that of the Church or the State. My dictionary definition of "progressive" doesn't take me back, but forward.

I humbly suggest some serious rethinking on the matter. When we use words we should know what they mean. Going back to basics and doing some in-depth research on the word "freedom" would be a good start.