THE Rev John Corbyn (Letters, May 15) writes eloquently in opposition of secularising all state-aided non-church schools, citing them as 'god-hostile' and implying secular schools are 'godless and value-free.'

There is an implicit assumption here that the only real values are those of the Church. It seems to be a common belief that the Church is the sole arbiter of what is 'moral' and what is not.

That is not to say the Church's values are wrong, but they represent just one perspective on the world - one originated in antiquity and honed over turbulent centuries of religious persecution and schism. They may or may not have relevance in the modern world.

It is unreasonable to assume that an absence of God implies an absence of values. I assert that in fact, an absence of God implies a more carefully reasoned set of values, because it becomes the responsibility of society, and ultimately the individual, to agree on a set of solid values. Often society's values and the Church's values converge.

Of course, many people prefer to derive their values from those of the Church. However, even then, those values are often ignored, or open to interpretation. How many churchgoers smuggle a few supplies home from the office, or don't declare everything on their tax return?

So I ask those people wedded to the Church's set of values to remember and respect the values of those people who choose to look elsewhere for their morals. The Church is not the sole arbiter of morality and, in any case, surely one value must be that of tolerance?

ANDREW SMELLIE, Gilroy, California, USA (a Blackburn ex-patriot who reads the Telegraph on the Internet).

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