Re: “God is back… and He’s trending” by Matthew d’Ancona (TNW #448). The use of religion by cynical individuals cannot be avoided, but this does not mean that people who do have a religious belief should be tarnished because of this.
Donald Trump and many others have adopted the cloak of Christianity for their own purposes, but the words “Christian” and “nationalist” are not mutually exclusive. Not forgetting that Stalin, Hitler, Mao and Pol Pot were all atheists.
David Irwin
To blame faith for humanity’s evils is just passing the buck. The majority of wars have not been faith-driven, rather the result of greed for land, power and possessions.
Sometimes, belief is co-opted as a tool to manipulate. Faith addresses those human failings, and challenges us to fight against them.
The Judeo/Christian Bible is a highly subversive book – “the poor shall inherit the earth”, “love your neighbour”, “welcome the stranger within your gates” – so much so that the Bible has often been banned. Jesus was a highly controversial figure, challenging elites and siding with the marginalised.
William Lindsey
Religion is not an explanatory system. It is rather a psychological defence against the unknown.
As far as we know, we are the only species to be aware of our mortality and to make matters worse, we have no idea when we are going to die or how. In societies where death is an ever-present threat, the unconscious anxiety this produces would be unmanageable without religion. It is why all human societies have had religion.
Unfortunately, religion has been co-opted by the state (and was sometimes the reason for the rise of the state) and is used by the elite to enforce particular ways of thinking and acting by portraying them as divinely ordained.
For the ethno-nationalist right, whose privileged position in society depends on “traditional” values, a return to religion makes perfect sense, as does the hope religion inspires for those at the opposite end of the social spectrum. The challenge for liberalism is to show that its secular values work for all and that religion is a matter of private devotion, not public policy.
Mark Grahame
Matthew d’Ancona gives a good coverage of the issues, nay, dangers, of “bad” religion, especially its co-option by nationalists. Fr Richard Rohr suggests that the best criticism of the bad is the practice of the better – sadly Matthew fails to give any insight into “good” religion. He also sticks to a fairly traditional, patriarchal image of God (as also shown on the cover), an image which most modern Christians have moved on from.
But the fundamental point is surely how we understand “experience”. On the one hand Matthew seems to accept the fact that “human beings kept on having the (mystical) experiences”. Yet he then goes on to say “belief in something for which there is no evidence is logically absurd”.
Surely, though, our experiences ARE evidence? Rationality is fine, but it is not the entirety of our thinking, or of what it is for humans to understand our place in creation.
Peter Lumsden
Suggested Reading
Letter of the week: Benjamin Netanyahu’s demise is wishful thinking
OMG, no sooner did I finish the excellent article by Patience Wheatcroft (“Labour have lost the moral high ground”, TNW #448) than I noticed David Lammy has admitted fishing without a licence while hosting JD Vance the other day at Chevening. One doesn’t know whether to laugh or cry, but at least, I understand, there was not a surfeit of lampreys.
Robert Boston, Kingshill, Kent
Unfortunately for Labour, they will always be held to higher standards than the Tories; partly a rod of their own making, but mostly because of a hostile press that will pounce on any misdemeanour.
Christopher Harrison
There is nothing in the Rushanara Ali case that comes within a million miles of the collective hypocrisy of the Labour cabinet’s craven refusal to take any significant action to sanction the Israeli government and support Palestine.
Anthony Wren
Your correspondent, Andrew Cross (Letters, TNW #448), claims that “we” in Scotland think of Nicola Sturgeon as a lying backstabber. I don’t. She was a calm and effective first minister who campaigned against Brexit and provided steady reassurance during Covid, unlike Boris Johnson.
In this divided state of Scottish politics, beware of anyone claiming to speak for the whole nation.
Michael Lloyd
Dunbar, Scotland
Re: Florence Hallett on the backlash against the Tate galleries (TNW #448). It is good to see thoughtful and nuanced commentators taking on the likes of Ella Whelan and the absolute nonsense such people spout, at times almost unchallenged.
John Hyder-Wilson
It is a hugely difficult task to manage and run the Tate galleries, but nonetheless a vital one. Trying to please all pleases no one. For me, the Tate has always been a place of spiritual nourishment and the only criterion for being in it should be “is it good work?”
Long may the Tate survive, grow, educate and inspire.
Peter BB Davis
I’d be far more concerned if modern art wasn’t shocking and outraging people. Surely that’s its whole raison d’être?
Alistair Knight
Thank you to the editors and New World writers for their enticing book recommendations (TNW #448). It would be fascinating to read your readers’ choices. My recent favourite is Richard Flanagan’s Question 7, part memoir, part novel and part history. Exploring how past, present and future merge, Flanagan weaves accounts of Hiroshima and the atomic bomb, his family history, Tasmanian genocide and a near-death drowning experience. Question 7 is an unforgettable emotional experience.
David Jeffrey
West Malvern, Worcs
Re: Alastair Campbell on the unifying power of cricket (Diary, TNW #448). My wife is Dutch and had no understanding of the game. I took her to a match in which I was playing and she left after 10 minutes. Since this was a time before mobile phones, I had to walk home.
Simon Pocock
I have to admit I blow hot and cold over Alastair Campbell and his name-drop-laden Diary – but, as an animal lover, an admirer of vets, and a big Frank Worthington fan, learning that Campbell’s dad was Worthington’s vet (TNE # 447) has answered any doubts I’ve ever had.
Alastair can boast all he likes about having played with Maradona, but boasting about being the son of Worthington’s vet is the kind of thing that proves to me that there’s a lot more to Campbell than I’ve given him credit for. Fair dues.
Chris Fitzpatrick,
Dublin, Ireland
BELOW THE LINE
Re: “The unpardonable crimes of Ghislaine Maxwell” (TNW #448). The lesson of the Epstein/Maxwell case is that we must listen to women and children; something that hasn’t happened much over the last few decades. When you consider the Rotherham grooming gangs, Mohamed Al-Fayed, Jimmy Savile and Dominique Pelicot, time and again, men actively participated or turned a blind eye.
WENDY HODGSON
Deserved as Ghislaine Maxwell’s incarceration is, it is still ironic that the only person imprisoned in this sordid business is a woman. Many guilty rich men are untouchable.
BRIAN RONSON
According to James Ball, “Giuffre alleged she was recruited into Epstein’s service by Maxwell aged 15, when she was working as a masseuse at Mar-a-Lago”. So whoever owns Mar-a-Lago was employing a minor as a masseuse. Nothing to see there, then.
PATRICK REYNOLDS
Re: Sonia Sodha’s piece “One-in, one-out is not enough” (TNW #448). Small boats are a child of Brexit. Putting that right will be a nightmare, not least if Farage was to take charge. This is an issue going round in circles.
DAVID ROLFE
