It has taken a long time for an Anglican bishop to state unequivocally that the churches have other marks of faithfulness besides bums on seats, or the lack of them (“Welcome to Norwich, capital of church’s campaign for a country with a conscience”, News). However, it requires very subtle presentation to get across a prophetic sense of priorities in which the poor are paramount and which avoids a preoccupation with self-justification and self-preservation.
During the 20th century, the hangers-on and status seekers disappeared from the pews, hopefully leaving behind a more concentrated reservoir of commitment. To be heard authentically requires commitment without pomposity, a good trick which politicians crave, but an area in which Justin Welby and Pope Francis seem to have given a good lead.
The churches are always on a tricky wicket when talking about themselves, even at the invitation of serious journalists. Offering a sign to a wider society can so easily sound like self-aggrandisement. A first-century journalist would probably have Jesus marked down as weak on self-preservation but good at pricking the pomposity of the powerful – a combination which always carries the risk of crucifixion.
The Rev Geoff Reid
Bradford
If the Church of England’s bishops want what Will Hutton describes as “a grown-up debate about the future of our country” (“Don’t condemn the Church. Who else argues for the common good?”, Comment), perhaps they could start by considering their own positions, as the Lords Spiritual, in the House of Lords. They are concerned that our democracy is failing. I do not believe we have created a true democracy in this country yet. I urge them to remove one of the last remaining barriers; their unelected role in making and shaping the laws of the United Kingdom.
Andrew Weatherall
Penrith, Cumbria
Climate change overtakes us
Ed Miliband highlights the need to “cut the growth of greenhouse gas emissions” as the basis of the global agreement to be reached in Paris in December (“Climate change is more than an environmental issue”, Comment).
However, to appreciate the dire trajectory on which we are already travelling and the rate at which we need to change this, look at the Carbon Budget Accounting Tool on the Global Commons Institute’s website. It makes clear that his target date of “net zero emissions globally some time in the second half of this century” will have to be brought forward considerably if we are to have reasonable odds of arresting the accelerating rates of climate change that we are already experiencing.
Dr Mayer Hillman
Policy Studies Institute
Senior Fellow Emeritus
London NW3
Finding gold in the slushpile
I was surprised to read “Publishers bypass agents to uncover new bestseller talent”, News, in which Dalya Alberge describes how publishers are playing literary agents at their own game, seeking out new talent for themselves and cutting out the industry’s powerful middlemen. I was a publisher’s reader for 12 years, until 2014. The fact is that many authors, Roddy Doyle and Bill Bryson among them, have emerged from publishers’ un-agented submissions piles, known in the industry as the slushpile. I even wrote a book about it, Something Nasty in the Slushpile: How Not to Get Published, based on the sometimes preposterous, always entertaining, unsolicited proposals that I read in the hope of striking publishing gold.
Sammy Looker
London
The art of counting visitors
I wonder how the Tate and National Gallery, or any other museum or gallery, know how many of their visitors are British and how many are not, since most top galleries and museums have free entry and do not, to my knowledge, question visitors as they enter (“Fewer Brits are visiting our top galleries – should we be worried?”, New Review). If the figures are based on paid-for exhibitions, then this may reveal the residential origin of a visitor who uses a credit or debit card, or books online or by telephone, but even this does not confirm nationality.
I visited the Turner Contemporary Gallery in Margate and I was delighted at the buzzing atmosphere, with lots of visitors of all ages – it is unlikely that many were foreign visitors on a cold day in February in Margate, with due respect to Margate!
Stella Wood
Chessington, Surrey
I’m a rebel in blue jeans
I was taken aback by Rick Edwards’s pronouncement that the blue-jeans-and-smart-black-shoes combo is unacceptable, even an abomination (Jean Therapy, Magazine). Is this a new law? Has there been a democratic process that I missed or has your style guru been the recipient of divine revelation? Perhaps I’m old-fashioned, but I think what’s important is that we wear what makes us feel good. If that’s sometimes blue jeans with smart black shoes, get over it Mr Edwards and be reassured that our children will not be led astray.
Lawrence Greenberg
London N14
