Sir, There is much to commend in your leading article (“Uncommon evil”, Sept 4), especially since its content echoed the thinking of Mary Whitehouse, so much derided by the media all those decades ago. The scale of the problem lies in society’s values and ethics.
We live in a hedonistic, consumerist society with little or no input from influences that seek to counter that materialist culture. Politicians seek only to gain or retain power. Education is marked by failure from graduate to nursery level, where the objective is to turn out products of value to the economy. National thinking is dominated by simplistic banner headlines and by a celebrity idolism. We are fuelled by a drug and alcoholic lifestyle. We are truly a broken society and broken people form a large section of that society.
The one institution whose sole purpose is the elevation of our values has become an object of our hostility. We are no longer a church-going people. Those who do attend hear the same message week in, week out. We are taught love and compassion for our neighbours and we learn the lesson of responsibility to our country. We are reminded that we are of great value to our God. We share in a cohesive and caring community of good people. At the same time we are constantly informed of our personal shortcomings and we seek to make amends. We face up to the fact that we are all capable of wrongdoing. Above all we have a code of conduct expressed in the beautiful language of the Bible.
I am not alone in seeing this connection between the sorry plight of the nation and the dereliction of our higher duty through the churches and synagogues to something nobler than ourselves. Is this not what those two boys lack?
John Herbert
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Risca, Gwent