Re. Long Time Coming, and Some Personal Reflection, Letters, July/August
On reading the two letters by Scott and Whitehead I didn’t know what to think. It was difficult to believe that two people who presume themselves to be Presbyterians were obviously ignorant of the basics and background of Presbyterianism and frankly I feel sorry for them. It’s their remarks that are silly, such as “ancestor worship”, “traditions that first didn’t happen back then” and “still bitter about church union”. You can’t change history of which Scotland, although a small country, has a super abundance and probably ranks as having the largest Diaspora of its people worldwide. As far as church union is concerned, try and learn a little about it and find out about the number of eminently educated people that were involved with the arrival of an acceptable union and discount the “elder” she refers to.
Scott should perhaps watch the New York Tartan Day parade and count how many “dewy eyed” Scots there were involved – thousands! Perhaps he would rather watch the New York Gay parade and he would see more than “dewy eyes”. Further to Whitehead’s letter, if she had been born 100 years ago she would have been brought up in the middle of the Canadian Church Union. She never spoke a truer word when she said “I knew nothing of the complicated history of Scottish/Canadian Presbyterianism”. Live and learn.
