This is the season - post General Assembly - when people wonder why the Kirk is in decline and what to do about it. I wish to do something about it because although I disagree fundamentally with Christian doctrine I do value the Kirk as an element of serious reasonableness in a society in which triviality and fanaticism are prevalent.

My suggestion is that the Kirk should cease all attempts to influence children whether by such means as youth organisations, Sunday Schools or RE in school (except in so far as this is purely informative and comparative).

From a Christian standpoint the attempted indoctrination of children labours under the terrible burden of having to be literalist in approach. Two consequences follow and both must be unwelcome to questioning Christians: one is that most children 'grow out of it' much as they grow out of Father Christmas and fairy tales: the other is that some do not grow out of it properly and seek, in adult life, to propagate a traditionalist, literalist interpretation of Christianity. In a free and open society such literalism is quaintly absurd to very many intelligent people - precisely the sort of people any organisation needs if it is to prosper.

The fact is that Christianity, viewed in a sophisticated sense heavily dependant upon symbolism and allusion, is a belief system that many mature people can profess and that others ought to respect and learn to live with.

As a secular humanist I suppose I should not care if Christianity goes on scoring 'own goals' but one that it might consider avoiding is the counter-productive attempt to teach children a belief system that can be appreciated intelligently and imaginatively only at an adult level. The days of 'simple faith' are over.

Surely we none of us have an interest in the promotion of tired old folklore - which is what the sort of thing that Christians often thrust upon children actually boils down to.