Trust and religion
From Mr John Lea
Sir: Reluctant though I am (or should be!) to take issue with the editor of the Daily Telegraph, I feel that in one element of his otherwise excellent article CA world without trust'. 7 December) Charles Moore crosses boundaries of logic.
His description of the widespread erosion of trust within Britain is beyond question. However, to attribute its cause so strongly to 'the decline of religious faith' is a dubious conclusion. The faith he refers to is monotheistic religion, and more specifically Christianity. By extension, those vast areas of the world where monotheism is not the accepted belief system should he untrusting and untrustworthy. Are they? And has the influence of Islam. for example, as an uncompromisingly monotheistic religion led to communities where trust is at a higher level than in Britain?
Approaching the issue from a different perspective, to what malign influences would Mr Moore attribute the present crisis of trust in Roman Catholicism in the USA?
We have to continue the search for the underlying causes of the decline of trust which he so persuasively presents somewhere other than in the parallel decline of monotheistic religion.
John Lea
Palm City, Florida, USA
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