We were both willing signatories to the statement in the Sunday Herald (advert, August 24) of our conviction that voting Yes in the referendum makes possible a more socially just Scotland.
We are, however, concerned to see a biblical quotation at the foot of the advertisement which seems to imply the authority of Jesus for the above statement. We would like to disassociate ourselves from any such implication.
Our vote and active support for an independent Scotland arises from our judgement as human beings, Christians and Scots. But we have many friends who share these characteristics, but who come to a different conclusion. Not for a moment would we believe they were any less human, Christian or Scottish, or their concern for a better society was any less than ours.
It is one of the healthy aspects of these last few months that (social media excepted) conversations and meetings between people of very different approaches on this issue have, in our view, been conducted in an atmosphere of healthy, robust and respectful debate, not least within the Church. By contrast our history has all too often been bedevilled by those who have claimed divine authority for their culturally or politically conditioned theological statements.
Rev Dr Iain Whyte and Rev Isabel Whyte North Queensferry
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It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
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We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
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