The end of the letters week brings responses to previous comments on Christianity. The transport chaos caused by snow, and corruption, are also up for discussion.
Christian faith sets example to follow
Sir,-I read with interest Dr Moreton’s letter (December 9) about the “malign” influence of Christianity.
Christians would never deny that many heinous crimes have been committed in their name. Many have, through ignorance and/or wrong teaching, been misguided and acted wrongly.
The Gospel message is, however, that all are sinners, in need of grace and forgiveness. If we turn to God in repentance and faith, He gives us a new dynamic to live our lives as, through prayer, we walk daily with Him.
Surely there is no better way than to model our lives on Christ and to follow His example and teaching.
(Mrs) Marjorie Ferguson.Kirkland Cottage,David Street,Blairgowrie.
Giants of history ignored
Sir,-It must be sad to have such a jaundiced attitude as that displayed by Dr Stephen Moreton (December 9).
He dismisses two of my examples of Christians who did good. I notice he did not denigrate or recategorise Elizabeth Fry.
What about the following list Lord Shaftesbury who succeeded in ending child labour in mines and factories and up chimneys; Father Joseph Damien, who died of leprosy after a lifetime helping lepers; William Carey, who was instrumental in founding the Baptist Missionary Society and in banning the burning of widows in India; Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who defied the Nazis and was hanged in Buchenwald; St Francis of Assisi, who founded a religious order and pioneered the modern attitude to animals and nature; and our own Mary Slessor of Calabar, who did so much to end such abuses in Nigeria as the ritual murder of twins and the maltreatment of women?
No doubt he will ferret out some faults in my selection to counterbalance the good they are recorded as having done. Perhaps he will claim Mary Slessor was not a Christian either.
If Christianity was such a power for evil, as Dr Moreton would have us believe, then how is it that the Christian West is where the ideals of individual freedom, justice, human rights and democracy have been nurtured?
The abuses he mentions are those of men who have distorted the teachings of Christ and not of the Christian faith.
George K. McMillan.5 Mount Tabor Avenue,Perth.
Rome behind mass of snow
Sir,-I am very disappointed that Stephen Moreton’s thoughtful and scholarly letter (December 9) did not discern that the Holy Roman Catholic Church is the cause of all this snow.
(Fr) Steven Mulholland.Our Lady of Victories Church,Forebank Road,Dundee.
Foolhardy motorists
Sir,-Your editorial (December 8) was spot on when it pointed out that it was the severe weather conditions the previous day that defeated the efforts of the authorities and caused such misery for road users in Central Scotland and not the hapless Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson.
Scotland has not been unique in suffering from transport disruption due to severe weather, which has also been experienced across Europe and, as in Scotland, can defeat the best efforts of the authorities.
Motorists who venture out on the roads when snow is forecast, as was the case last Monday, should accept that they may run into trouble.
J. B. MacGillivray.23 Farington Street,Dundee.
Corrosive corruption
Sir,-Dr Bernard W. Senior (December 9) opines that the love of money is the root of all evil and cheating is getting worse.
Coincidentally, it would seem that a Global Corruption Barometer published this week in Berlin by Transparency International confirms his views as being not untypical. The 2010 barometer showed that 67% of UK respondents felt that the level of corruption in this country had increased in the last three years.
These figures are worrying but apparently not shared by the Scottish Parliament’s Forth Crossing Hybrid Bill Committee, which dismissed my attempt to introduce anti-corruption measures into the Bill for the Forth Crossing on a technicality.
Apparently, they see no need for protection of taxpayers’ money on what will be the most expensive bridge ever built in the world.
The barometer showed that political parties, parliament, police and the business/private sector, in that order, were highest on the list of those most likely to be corrupt.
Tom Minogue.94 Victoria Terrace,Dunfermline.
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