Talk:Church and Society Council

[Untitled] edit

I think the last two paragraphs in the history section can be improved to create more of an impression of information and neutrality rather than the feeling that there's an anti-catholic agenda here. It's out of place to express thinly-disguised bigotry when one of the main objects of Wikipedia is to inform in a neutral and objective way. Maybe I'm misreading the whole section but it seems insulting and inflammatory to me. I'm about to change it.

Here are the two paragraphs (as they were):

Despite the former being true, in 2002 the General Assembly passed a resolution that "regrets any part played in sectarianism by our church in the past and affirm our support for future moves towards a more tolerant society". The Assembly also received a report from the Church and Nation Committee entitled "The Demon in our Society: Sectarianism in Scotland." The Convener of the Church and Nation Committee in 2002 was the Rev. Alan McDonald, who became Moderator in 2006.

The Church and Nation Committee had one of the highest profiles in the Church of Scotland. It took a lead in campaigns, such as opposing nuclear weapons and promoting devolution for Scotland. Such stances, however, led to accusations of loony left-wing political bias by some critics of the Committee both within and outside the Church.

The first problem I have here is that the meaning is unclear. When the writer says, "Despite the former being true," I assume he's referring to the preceding text so there's a problem of basic vocabulary there but, assuming he does mean to subscribe to the view that "Roman Catholics of Irish birth or descent" were "part of a conspiracy to subvert Presbyterian values and" were "the principal cause of drunkenness, crime and financial imprudence," Wikipedia isn't the place.

The second problem, similar to the first in terms of the apparent underlying agenda, is the use of weasel words at the end of the last paragraph. The removal of that sentence needs no explanation, any more than would the removal of any other sort of graffiti.