Sir, I read with some interest the recent piece featuring the Reverend Burton on the state of affairs within the Church of Scotland. Not being religious (I have never been christened) and belonging to no church, I will put forward some personal reflections which are entirely personal and have no basis in fact.
The Church of Scotland has always come across to me as not being very inclusive. It would appear to represent the Conservative Party at prayer. On the few occasions I have attended services, for whatever reason, I have found it to be completely joyless and uninspiring. On the
few occasions I have been to a Catholic service, however, I found it although a little complicated at least a happy occasion, with some customs and traditions to keep you occupied.
How does the Church of Scotland improve its rather dire situation? I don’t think it can. It is an increasingly older type of person who attends and as time goes by nature will take its course.
It would be a pity to see some of these wonderful old buildings fall into disrepair but perhaps one way to save them would be to turn them over for other purposes outside of religion.
I feel most Christian religions will face a decline in attendances as many people, I think, just don’t see the point and may, in fact, see religion as the root cause of much of the trouble in the world.
They would rather spend time with their families and friends on Sundays enjoying the company and freedom, and not being preached at and told stories that may or may not have happened 2000 years ago.
However, every person is entitled to have their own beliefs. Maybe our ancestors in Pictish times had the best religious practices, revolving around nature. Who knows, they may have been right. Who can say with any finality that they were wrong?
Bryan Auchterlonie. Bluebell Cottage, Ardargie.
Symbols often say more . . .
Sir, I wonder whether a key issue in the difficulties faced by the Church of Scotland might be the relatively infrequent celebration of Communion, the Lord’s Supper, the Eucharist, whatever title you wish to give this central rite which makes the Christian church unique in the world.
It ensures that the focus is always on Jesus. It is his mandate and its roots go back to the earliest days of Christianity. It is also prefigured long before in the Old Testament. Symbols often say more than words.
Catriona Robertson. 38 Beauly Crescent, Dundee.
Encouraged to think
Sir, Gordon Dilworth wonders what my reaction would have been if school pupils had been sent home with a book extolling the virtues of secular humanism.
Clearly he has been out of touch with education for some time my children are regularly indoctrinated with secular humanism. He also has not read the Scripture Union booklet referred to, which was not an evangelistic booklet and merely mentioned that prayer might be helpful.
I realise that our atheistic humanists are sensitive souls and get upset at anything which questions their fundamental beliefs but perhaps they could learn from the Christian educational tradition, which is to encourage pupils to think for themselves.
If my children came home from school with the kind of atheistic humanistic propaganda suggested by Mr Dilworth, I would not insist that the book be banned, I would just encourage them to question and think for themselves.
That’s the difference between Christian education and Secular Humanist indoctrination!
David Robertson. St Peter’s Free Church, 4 St Peter Street, Dundee.
Missed for 10 years?
Sir, Your recent article regarding the proposed strike action by Ninewells Hospital porters presented three significant facts: 1. there are currently 120 porters employed at the hospital, 2. the financial shortfall claimed by Unite is £6,000,000, 3. the accounting error dates back a period of 10 years.
Given those facts, it doesn’t require a mathematical genius to arrive at the conclusion that each and every porter has been deprived of the princely sum of £50,000 in total or £5,000 a year for the last 10 years.
If this is indeed the case, my sympathies must be wholeheartedly with the porters, but has the Unite representative, Mr Colin Coupar, presented us with the correct figures?
While I can accept that there may well be a genuine cause for complaint, I cannot believe that such a financial blunder has gone unnoticed or ignored for so long.
Harry Racionzer. Kirriemuir.
Can pay but won’t!
Sir, I thank Roy Moffat (Letters, February 24), for bringing to my attention the fact that the SNP Government has written off an amount equivalent to the cost of the Scottish Parliament building. Another example of how to garner votes, especially from those who refused to pay in the first place.
If these arrears had been made available to the country’s cash-strapped local authorities perhaps they could have provided the level of service and assistance to the community enjoyed in a previous era.
I wrote on this page several months ago that I will become a “can but won’t” if this cheap legislation went through. So in the next financial year, from April, I shall stand up and be counted. The direct debit will be cancelled and Angus Council can come knocking at my door. I bet it only takes weeks before they do!
Geoff Bray. Heather Croft, Letham, by Forfar.