The Reverend Hayward (Opinion, December 20), like the Archbishop of Canterbury and others before him, has fallen for the old worn out and wearisome myth that

The Reverend Hayward (Opinion, December 20), like the Archbishop of Canterbury and others before him, has fallen for the old worn out and wearisome myth that the growing secularisation of our culture - and about time too as the world will be much safer - is the result of an unseen and conspiratorial atheistic mafia out to get the religious and that the only way for faith to survive is for it to circle the wagons. He also seeks to represent secularism as something destructive. Well he's utterly wrong. The slow but growing secularisation of our culture is simply down to the fact that people are seeking real alternatives to hypocritical whimsy and blatant contradiction. Scientific understanding of the real world has left religion nothing to do but scratch its medieval head. The books of Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens have sold by the millions not because people have been duped but because they are genuinely interested in alternative viewpoints. It is, in fact, patronising to suggest otherwise.If I were to set up a school in town that taught atheistic values and morality and then asked for financial help in transporting the pupils to that school Rev Hayward would be the first in the queue denouncing my requests. So why should faith schools be singled out for special treatment? Both the Protestant and Catholic churches are rich beyond avarice. Maybe they could spread some of that cash around and fund the school transport themselves. Keep your faith Rev Hayward and believe what you like, as is your right, but don't blame us secularists, still very much in the minority, for the loss of your flock. Look closer to home. Nick Harding - Milton Road, Weston