I CANNOT believe that anyone could, after intelligent consideration, hold the views that are expressed in Stephen Paton’s article regarding statues (Why is there even a debate about keeping memorials that should bring only shame?, July 5).

In Stephen’s judgment, we should be rejecting the work of Plato, Aristotle and Archimedes, and everything we credit the Romans for, as the civilisations of both Greece and Rome not only depended on slaves but regarded it as natural to treat them as lesser beings. Athens may have been the birthplace of democracy, but it had laws ensuring that slaves were kept in their place, and the Romans sent many to the lions for entertainment.

READ MORE: Why is there even a debate about keeping memorials that should bring only shame?

But by Stephen Paton’s reckoning we should be destroying any record of the benefits these people left us because of their treatment of slaves. Was it not this sort of attitude that destroyed books and banned certain music etc in Germany before World War Two? And how much valuable history was destroyed more recently by Daesh?

There is no single person on the planet who is all good. We all have our flaws, some of which may well be despised by future generations, but that does not mean that we have not also done much for the greater good of our communities and even the world. Recognition of such contributions to human progress – whether through statues, plaques, written work or whatever – is not an indication that someone was perfect, only that, according to the attitudes and beliefs of their time, in spite of human faults, they in some way benefitted the wider world.

Stephen Paton’s stance would mean that only the habits, customs and actions of any current generation, or only those approved of by that generation, could be honoured and recorded – and once that generation had passed and such mores had changed, those previous honours would have to be discarded if they did not fit the new, more “enlightened” thinking. That way, we would have no tangible history.

Surely the value of statues and other memorials to those of past generations is in acting as a lesson to us on the good that someone has done, and being prompted to learn more about the person then can enlighten us on their human failings to be avoided. Does an attitude of that time and society that we now deprecate really outweigh any good that someone has done?

Perhaps Stephen Paton should consider the wise words “judge not, that ye be not judged”, and show a little more understanding of and sympathy for human frailty.

P Davidson
Falkirk

I THINK The UK media are currently hiding the revelations coming out of Canada. The genocide of the indigenous people who where collateral damage for a corrupt Empire.

We need to tell the truth about colonialism – which we, the Scottish people, are still subject to – including the part that the church and elites played in this. Ordinary people did not benefit from Empire and it is disingenuous for those who try to suggest this. They are usually British nationalists who can’t see that there is no difference to a Nazi or British soldier shooting unarmed civilians – it’s a war crime for both. It’s a disgrace to see what is happening to politics in this country, matched only by the inaction of those in the SNP who have lost interest in getting us out of this corrupt failed UK state.

Alastair Bryan
via email

I NOTE your report on the US departure from Afghanistan after 20 years (US military quits main Afghan base, Jul 3).

Having reduced the country back to the stone age, the Americans perform their usual foreign policy trick of leaving a country to pick up the pieces of a destroyed, destabilised area with a traumatised population. How many Afghan citizens are going to be left behind who will be in danger from the Taliban due to the fact they helped the Americans by acting as interpreters?

When is the rest of the world going to stand up to the aggressive, militaristic, imperialist foreign policy of the warmongers in the White House? President Biden is not going to be any different – unless he is stopped, he is going to drag the rest of the world into a stand-off with China AND Russia.

The US has been causing wars for 150 years, it’s time to shut them up behind Donald Trump’s wall. That way the rest of us might have some PEACE!

Margaret Forbes
Kilmacolm

SELMA Rahman asks a very pertinent question. The answer to her “how long is a piece of string?” question is that we must all wait until the time is right. The time is right when we can foresee an increase from the 50% or so who will vote Yes and when enough of the skittles are in place to go ahead.

Until then we have to acknowledge all the other factors that have to be taken into account. We also need to be in a position to give assurances to and answer questions from the as-yet-undecideds and those who can be swayed. The numerous Yes groups will need to get together along with the SNP to develop a joint strategy.

Going off prematurely and at half cock is no guarantee of success.

Nick Cole
Meigle, Perthshire