The ability to embrace change

McGovern ("The Kirk has lost direction and is urgently in need of reformation", Herald Agenda, December 18 and to the subsequent comments thereon ( Letters, December 19).

Human experience has shown that, over time, we have been continually faced , sometimes reluctantly, with redefinitions of meanings and attitudes thereto. Let us consider some examples:

*The words of the Declaration of Independence in the USA were originally intended to apply to those who were white, male, and property-owning;

* In 2002 the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland expressed regret about sentiments expressed by that church in the 1920s about the Irish migrants lowering the social conditions and undermining the spirit of independence of the Scottish people;

* More recently, the appointment of the Reverend Libby Lane as the first female bishop in the Church of England, which ended centuries of male leadership of that church and comes 20 years after women were allowed to become priests within that denomination.

That process of redefinition is ongoing , because our thought processes are forever evolving , not only about how life should be lived, but also about our reactions to societal developments. While some, more than others, are affected by apathy and indifference rather than by a positive desire for change, we have shown that we can arrive at a more enlightened , and perhaps more tolerant, definition of equality and freedom.

The deeply troubling question for some , which is posed by this controversial religious debate is: at what stage , after a number of alterations and adjustments over a period to important doctrines, tenets, and established interpretations, is one led to conclude that the organisation , which one willingly joined, is transformed into something much different , to which , with regret, one has difficulty in retaining allegiance ?

Ian W Thomson,

38 Kirkintilloch Road, Lenzie.