I HAVE a certain kind of admiration for the people of the island of Lewis. Culture is important to a nation, and in particular where islands are concerned. Their isolation from the mainland over many hundreds of years has created a society separate from their mainland cousins.

And so it is with the Island of Lewis. The religious culture of observing the Lord’s Day is obviously so very important, as it has been on most, if not all, of the Hebridean Islands.

READ MORE: Tesco to open on Sundays despite Isle of Lewis residents' opposition

For mainland businesses to create a store extension, such as Tesco, on any of these islands is good for business and good for the islanders, both in job opportunities and goods for sale. One would think that six days a week of business would be sufficient for a population of just a few thousand, as on Lewis.

So why Tesco feels the need to break with a local cultural tradition of the Lord’s Day observance, that stretches back hundreds of years, by opening up for business on that day, is maybe not such a mystery. More of an excuse to foster more profit as suggested in The National’s excellent exposure (‘Way of life is important’: Councillor hits out over Lewis Sunday opening, Oct 24).

As islander and crofter and local councillor Domhnall Macsween suggests, Tesco has the controlling power because there are jobs involved and, for Tesco’s way of working, shift patterns.

My own way of thinking is for the few thousand potential customers to boycott the Sunday opening (regardless of Tesco’s offer of a pathetic shorter opening hours for that particular day), and continue with their preference for Sunday worship.

Alan Magnus-Bennett
Fife

THE issue of reparations for slavery is back on the agenda.

I support reparations as long as the families and institutions who benefitted from slavery are the ones who pay.

I include the Africans who took the enslaved people into captivity and benefitted greatly by selling their fellow men into slavery.

READ MORE: Commonwealth leaders set to defy UK Government on slavery reparations

I see absolutely no reason why ordinary taxpayers should be expected to pay for the actions of powerful individuals from the past.

If the question of reparations is to the fore again, then let’s widen the scope out to include reparations to descendants of the many Scots who were forced off their land to make way for sheep during The Clearances.

Perhaps also include descendants of the men who were press-ganged into the navy. The list goes on of people who were subjected to hellish existences by their powerful masters.

READ MORE: UK Government rules out slavery reparations and apology

I see no reason to suspect that doling out some cash would put right the evils of the past. Much better to learn from history so that evil things can’t happen again.

Although with what’s going on in the world right now I don’t see much hope of that.

Harry Key
Largoward

WITH apologies to Andy Doig (Letters, Oct 22), I have to point out that his brave attempt to apply logic to complex human questions of sex and gender falls into the trap of absolutism. As long ago as Kant (whose famous Antinomies showed that you can use logic to prove that time is both finite and infinite; similarly space) it has been shown that there are limits to what we can know about the universe. Then Einstein’s Relativity theory showed that even space and time are not fixed grounds of existence, but depend on the presence of matter. Schrodinger and others elevated the importance of uncertainty and probability. Absolutism is out the window!

To come to terms with the gender identity question, a bit of humility is necessary, an acknowledgement on all sides that there are conflicting biological and medical truths, philosophical, psychological and emotional truths, as well as political and societal trends; not one simple shouty “answer”.

Derek Ball
Bearsden

HAVE you ever wondered how come the CEO or manager of this or that organisation is so breathtakingly, sometimes dangerously incompetent?

Maybe, like me, you’ve felt uncomfortable reading reports about the inexplicably more negative outcomes for patients from minority ethnic backgrounds within the medical service.

READ MORE: Donald Trump accuses Labour of interfering in US election

Perhaps you struggle to understand how the world can look at one conflict, Ukraine, and be unquestioningly and rightly appalled at the civilian suffering and look at another, Gaza, and not only seem not to care (thus far 2% of the child population has been killed) but continue to supply weapons.

Wonder no more.

Just cast your eye momentarily at the US electoral race between a competent, decent, accomplished, articulate black/Asian woman and an old, white, male convicted felon, alleged sexual abuser and racist who refused to accept the results of the last election leading to the horrors of January 6 2021. Really look at how close the election still is.

The Harris v Trump race literally explains all that is inexplicable in the modern world.

Amanda Baker
Edinburgh