10 NOVEMBER 1979, Page 17

Religion and the individual

Sir: In his article (27 October) Auberon Waugh asserts that man's relationship to God is an intensely private affair. While this is true as far as the first commandment goes, it ignores the second, which is 'like unto the first, thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.' (11,4atthew ch.22, verse 39). The doctrine of religious privacy can lead to the Puritanism which, in R. H. Tawney's phrase, 'emptied society of its soul and drained religion of its social content,' It is just as much an error as the community religion Mr Waugh condemns. W R. Eyres 27 Grove Terrace, London NW5