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A word popped up in the papers this week that I rarely see used by journalists. Newly announced environment policies, especially action against plastic, were described as a possible means of redemption for the Government among young people. And Toby Young, the director of the New Schools Network charity, was described as not being allowed redemption for past offensive remarks despite his endeavours in schools. So he was forced to resign from the board of the Office for Students. While redemption is a rare concept in the press, it’s a basic tenet of Christian thought. It was St Paul in his epistles who first fully explored the belief that Christ was born on this earth to be the redeemer of sinful humanity. This led to the ransom theory – that Christ paying the ultimate price of his life by dying on the cross was the means by which humanity is saved. Other theologians discussing redemption developed the moral influence theory. They argued people would be redeemed if they converted to a different way of life, following Christ’s teachings. Out of this idea emerged Enlightenment notions about the individual and personal moral change – that people could redeem themselves. For centuries these ideas were highly popular. But today’s climate is a far harsher one. Toby Young is not the only person vilified this week. Another is Johann Hari, a journalist who was caught plagiarizing others’ work some years ago. Hari quit his job, took himself off to America to study journalism and has now written a book about depression and the search for meaning that’s been highly praised in the US. But like Young, over here he has been vilified on social media because of his past wrongs. This is points to a very different era from that of John Profumo, the government minister forced to resign for lying to the House of Commons about his relationship with Christine Keeler. Profumo created a new life for himself, atoning for his errors by working ceaselessly to help people out of poverty in London’s East End. His efforts to make amends were eventually recognised with a CBE. The Fifties are often perceived today as a time of hypocrisy. But compare the lot of Profumo and what happens today when people fall from grace. There may be less hypocrisy but there seems an unyielding reluctance to accept that an individual can change. The technical innovations that have brought about social media rather than making us very modern seem to be encouraging a retrograde step: back to the era of Manichaeism, the ancient concept of everything being either good or evil, black or white. A more nuanced approach to an individual changing, inspired by Christ’s teaching and embraced by more secular thinkers too, seems no longer of the moment.