Biblical suggestions
Sir: I wish to offer a couple of comments on Matthew Parris’s observation that although his ‘Christian atheism’ provides him with a moral framework, he feels the urge to help people in need, yet feels let down because Jesus offers no guidance about who to help and to what degree (‘Christianity is silent on my great moral dilemma’, 5 September). Jesus wants us to use our minds and our experiences, rather than simply applying set rules, and here is an example of how this works. Take the golden rule of ‘Do unto others’, add to it the Good Samaritan, and stir in the parable of the sheep and the goats, and there’s a fighting chance that the Syrian refugees will not be left to drown.
The Revd Robert Jackson
Bicester, Oxon
Pandering to the noisy
Sir: Rod Liddle (5 September) laments the fact that the ‘green-ink brigade’, a body that — among other things — mounts online petitions and which, he estimates, represents only 0.5
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