A new religion?
Sir: I believe Mr Sisson (5 September) underestimates the difficulty of maintaining the Church's identity and independence if it continues the tradition of 'unquestionable loyalty' under the new regime of a 'religion of democracy'. There is a perennial com petition between State and religion for this kind of loyalty, which only the surrender of one to the other brings to an end. The ambiguity of the old system allowed each side to believe it had conquered the other; but if, as a church, we give up the illusion that we still control society, why should we continue to pay the price attached to it?
The Church before Constantine was loyal to the State, but conditionally so. I would suggest that the future of the Church depends on the 'scrupulous, over-logical' side of Christian tradition, which would deny to the Emperor the absolute obedience he demands. In modern terms, this may mean renouncing Establishment as a liability, and returning to the original raison d'être of the Church, namely the conversion of the rest of society.
S. J. Melton 82 Warwick Street, Oxford
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