Spectator letters: Ken Loach defended, and the music of Pepys

We need religion

Sir: Roger Scruton (‘Sacred hunger’, 31 May) describes a reason, dare I say a ‘purpose’, for religion in society. Evolutionary biologists such as the evangelical atheist Richard Dawkins should accept the concept of evolution in the social behaviour of Homo sapiens. Archaeological and anthropological evidence suggest that some form of religion played a part in the earliest of primitive societies, going back tens of thousands of years. If religion is so toxic to society, how could it have developed into so many complex and varied forms around the world unless it had powerful social ‘survival’ value? Indeed in countries where religion was outlawed, such as the USSR and China, it made the need for it even stronger.

The basic tenets of all religions have provided society with ethical and moral rules that form the fundamentals of a civilised society.
Colin Brown

Bradfield, South Yorkshire

An educated Army

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Sir: The former Gunner 146790 Patrick Halnan (Letters, 31 May) decries the lack of education opportunities given to servicemen today. As a Gunner myself, I can assure him that this is not the case. All soldiers are given literacy and numeracy lessons, workbooks and exams; indeed, their ability to promote is dependent on their ability to pass these. Every man is able to claim a one-off grant of up to £8,000 towards the cost of an educational course, and there are further annual grants available. And while some military career qualifications do have an admittedly limited value in the civilian world (training in the use of field artillery being one example), there are many that are worth a small fortune — as a farrier, in logistics and in oil and petroleum to name but a few.

Of course every man is trained to fight first and foremost, but the Army gains far more from having an educated workforce than it does an illiterate one.