The decline in interest in the Christian faith is tragic for humanity. It is about so much more than life after death

I NOTE Neil Mackay’s The Big Read article (“A crisis of faith”, April 4) in which the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, the Rt Rev Dr Martin Fair, is reported as maintaining that “Christianity isn’t about those who like to sing hymns on Sunday, it’s about being where people are vulnerable, fragile and broken – and being alongside them”.

I read elsewhere that the Archbishop of Canterbury, in his Easter message, referred to the church getting “involved with resisting injustice, treasuring our world, tending the needy – it’s why Christians throughout the centuries have lived with compassion and love for all who are excluded and marginalised”. Pope Francis in his traditional Easter message exclaims that “the poor of every kind must begin again to hope”.

But to return to the Moderator, Dr Fair maintains that the message of Jesus is “a bold, moving philosophy, which even the most committed atheist can respect ... that’s if the Kirk carries it through, of course”. An interesting qualification “if the Kirk carries it through”.

I think the continuing decline in interest in the Christian faith is a tragedy. It is about so much more than life after death. It is about working for a fullness of life for all here and now, especially those who are “excluded and marginalised”. Such care and compassion is at the very heart of Christianity, the Moderator being perfectly justified in describing it as being a “a bold, moving philosophy”. John Milne, Uddingston.