Public Questions Report

This year’s Public Questions Report runs to over 25,000 words and deals with issues as diverse as alcohol and drug addiction and Fairtrade.

Perhaps the topic which will arouse most interest is a report on Marriage and Divorce. Sadly, marriage breakdown is endemic in British society today and even in our own denomination, there is hardly a congregation which has been unaffected by it. This helpful report examines some of the pressures in today’s society on the institution of marriage; the Biblical principles on marriage and divorce; and some pastoral advice for those coping with marital issues within their own congregations.

The report includes a very positive description of projects which the Committee’s “Social Responsibility” mandate has helped to kick-start: Road to Recovery initiatives in the Western Isles and Inverness; a family counselling programme in Dundee; a community worker in Kirkcaldy; the support of a community youth project in Lochinver and two full time Presbytery youth workers in the Western Isles and Skye and Wester Ross.

The report also includes a detailed and critical examination of the concept of Fairtrade by looking at the Biblical teaching on attitudes to poverty; how trade injustices led to the formation of the Fairtrade Foundation in 1992; and how the Fairtrade system operates.

The major impact which television and the internet is having on the lives of children, young people and adults is also dealt with. As with so much technology, the benefits of these media are enormous, but so are the dangers. Using recent studies, the report highlights concerns about the potential physical, social and behavioural effects which television and the internet can have on all ages.

Finally, the Report looks at the controversial issue of Climate Change, firstly by examining the Biblical basis for the care of Creation, and then by describing the key impacts which climate change might have globally, before suggesting how we should respond nationally and individually.

Click here to download the 2008 Public Questions report.