How to clean up Scottish football: bring in airport-style security

Why don’t the SFA, football clubs and fans fork out for similar tough security at grounds, including Hampden, to ensure pyrotechnics and other undesirable items are kept out?

Anyone caught trying to smuggle them in should have their ticket ripped up and their details sent to all clubs.

Yes, it would mean lengthy queues before kick-off, but it would encourage real fans to get there early.

One question regarding the disgusting scenes of rampaging thugs in Glasgow city centre before the Premier Sports Cup Final: was there any follow-on communication between the police and Hampden authorities before letting those morons through the turnstiles? They were pretty easy to spot. They all dress the same. And a couple of easy questions would reveal their lack of anything approaching intelligence.

Andy Stenton, Glasgow.

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We must continue to teach religion and morality in our schools

The young find it so hard to ignore vaping’s ‘death dummies’

• MATTHEW Lindsay’s comprehensive coverage of the recent Celtic v Rangers match starkly highlights the embarrassment caused by the fixture (“Old Firm ultras are nothing short of a national disgrace”, Herald Sport, December 17).

He cites the involvement of the police, Scottish Football Association and other agencies plus the growing evidence of disorder. He concludes that Celtic and Rangers ultras are nothing short of a national disgrace. Sadly, no solutions were voiced. Perhaps sanctions on the two clubs should follow. Points deductions or forfeiture of a trophy might be a good starting point.

Allan C Steele, Giffnock.

Vaping danger to children

I WELCOME the recent discussion on vaping as a public health issue (“Smokers who are trying to quit ‘should not be vaping’, The Herald, December 17, and Letters, December 16).

Well over one million children in the UK are vapers. Figures are hard to establish but there must by now be around three million vapers of all ages in the UK.

Governments around the world are concerned about this. The only solution which they so far have not considered is the complete ban of nicotine, the main powerful drug in vapes and cigarettes.

This is because nicotine in itself is not the problem; but people and especially children become addicted very quickly, exposing them to all the added ingredients and toxic chemicals in cigarettes.

The vaping industry is using our children as “nicotine mules” just as the Mafia and the illegal drugs business are using our children as drug mules. Big Tobacco has for decades been seeking a way to replace smoking. The only purpose of vaping is to make billions from a new generation of nicotine users. It has nothing to do with pubic health or helping people to quit smoking. Unfortunately governments across the work have been fooled into believing that it helps smokers to quit.

Parents must understand that children are not adults, their bodies are more easily damaged and vulnerable. We know many parents believe it is better letting the children vape as they think it is not a drug and that vaping will stop children dabbling in drugs. They are wrong. We must get that message out there.

Max Cruickshank, Glasgow.

Jesus is not a myth

NEIL Mackay writes that religion is “more myth than ideology” yet he quotes Jesus’s teaching (“Dear religious folk: Sorry, but Santa is just as real as your ‘God’”, The Herald, December 17). Presumably then, as is widely accepted among scholars, he acknowledges the historical evidence of Jesus’s existence and that Jesus is not a myth.

Jesus’s teaching about the value of individuals, treating people with respect and showing compassion towards the poor and vulnerable, was foundational in establishing the values which are widely accepted in western society today. But that is not the full extent of his teaching.

He himself claimed to be divine (“I and the Father are one”, John 10:30) and taught of mankind’s broken relationship with God. He pointed to this as being the underlying cause of the injustice and suffering we see around us, including the child abuse referred to in Mr Mackay’s column. Jesus called on people to acknowledge their own sinful nature, repent and, through his unique sacrifice and resurrection, be reconciled with God.

I would encourage Mr Mackay to read through John’s Gospel and consider all that Jesus said and did. Then, with an open mind, decide was Jesus speaking truth or was he deluded. It must surely be one or the other.

George Rennie, Inverness.

• NEIL Mackay seems to miss the point about Jesus Christ. He literally came to Earth to save people from their sins, suffering a horrendous death on the Cross and I and countless other people will testify to that fact. Santa never existed and nobody would claim he has changed their lives.

I always enjoy reading Mr Mackay’s articles but he’s even more miserable than the Rev Dr Paul Chamberlain of whom he writes.

Michael Watson, Rutherglen.

The future of religious education in schools is the subject of a Scottish Government consultation (Image: Getty)

Ban religious indoctrination

I WRITE in appreciation and support of the letter (December 17) from Robert F Gibson this morning on religious teaching in schools. It reminded me of my secondary school days in the early 1960s when our one period of RI per week (note: RI – religious instruction, not RE – religious education, at least at Liberton Secondary school). This job wasn’t a specialist subject so it would fall to any nominated teacher from any department.

We were lucky to have a PE teacher from whom I heard the name Zoroaster for the first time; he taught us for a whole year without emphasising Christianity, and then only in the context of other world religions. I learned about Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism, and a few other isms, as well as Humanism, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. This teacher was probably operating off-piste but he is the only RI teacher I can remember, though it didn’t stop me from becoming an atheist (or possibly an agnostic).

Religious instruction as religious indoctrination is surely wrong. It bothers me that, certainly at Liberton school, moral philosophy was not taught, and as far as I remember it didn’t appear on the curriculum of the school my children attended. Religious indoctrination should be banned in all schools, and replaced with Philosophy in its various forms, including religion, perhaps even on a compulsory basis.

John Jamieson, Ayr.