Sir, On Channel 4 news recently there was an excellent interview with a lady who is an adviser to President Assad of Syria.
She was very clear that the people Assad is fighting in Syria are the same people who caused 9/11 in America and the London bombings here.
To damage the Assad government by military intervention would, therefore, seem counter-productive.
This was one of the best and most calmly presented pieces of logic I have seen for many a year. Quite unlike the disconnected thinking of Western politicians.
As for the argument that not doing anything about chemical weapons will give encouragement to North Korea or other dastardly regimes, well what does that matter?
Who are we to police the world, and where would we stop anyway?
Malcolm Parkin. 15 Gamekeepers Road, Kinnesswood, Kinross.
Christians in Middle East
Sir, The reports of a Christian village in western Syria being bombarded by al Quaida anti-Assad forces point out the grim future for Christian communities throughout the Middle East.
Your recent reports of the continuing destruction of the Coptic Christian community in Egypt added to this latest intelligence of similar treatment for Syrian Christians who incorporate remnants of the ancient Aramaic people and linguistics associated with Christ and our Holy Bible, indicate the virulence of Assad’s enemies.
It is seldom reported that the Assad regime protects Christian, Kurdish and other minorities from the Sunni fundamentalists who seek to rub them out.
David Cameron should moderate his political certainties which seem founded as much on burnishing his reputation as on examining and publicising hard evidence.
Alastair Harper. House of Gask, Lathalmond, by Dunfermline.
Need to be able to deny
Sir, With reference to your article School religious opt out ‘failing’(September 4), you report that “secularists” are complaining to the Scottish Parliament about arrangements for pupils to opt out of religious activities in schools. If promises have been made and not kept, that should be put right. But I would like to raise the wider issue.
Religious education is not like those subjects which can be learned from books, like spelling and sums. It is more like PE or oral French: you learn it by doing.
God, who is at the heart of religion, has to be heard and obeyed. This is chiefly done through telling stories and re-enacting them.
We respond when we listen, sing, love and adore. We pray to God, thanking for gifts received, looking for help. We do not make God up, we answer in fear and hope.
Unless children learn how all this works in practice, they cannot become full human beings. They cannot even become secularists, since without religion they do not know what they are supposed to deny.
Parents, even those who do not care about God and the church, will not want their children to sit in dull classrooms while the rest of the school sings for love and joy. They will not want them to become narrow-minded people who do not listen to things they want to deny.
Professor the Rev Stuart G Hall. 15 High Street, Elie, Leven.
Honeymoon back on?
Sir, While I applaud Robert I G Scott’s release from solitary confinement in Ceres, common courtesy demands that he should be brought up to date.
He states (Letters, September 5) that “. . . the honeymoon period for Alex Salmond, Nicola Sturgeon, and their supporters is now over” and goes on to note that the opinion polls point to a marked drop in support for the SNP cause.
Alas, Mr Scott, the moving finger writes and having writ moves on, and what it writes in The Courier (September 5), is that the latest poll finds that Alex Salmond is the only major party leader to have a positive rating with the Scottish public.
Worse still, a Panelbase poll in The Courier last Monday said the “Yes” campaign had gained the lead for the first time with the number of “don’t knows” predominating.
George White. 2 Cupar Road, Auchtermuchty.
No civil war here, but . . .
Sir, I have heard on television and radio over the last few days that up to one-third of Syria’s population will be displaced as a consequence of their civil war. That is a tragedy, no doubt about that.
However, I wonder how many people will be displaced in the UK as a consequence of the bedroom tax and/or being sanctioned from receiving Job Seekers Allowance for the flimsiest of excuses?
Kenneth Brannan. 42 Greenlee Drive, Dundee.