In his enthusiasm to demonstrate his own omnipotence, Reverend Peter Whitcombe fails to grasp the definition of a secular nation in his comments in last week's church section of The Weekend Sun (October 30).

Clearly no fan of Helen Clark, he decries her comments that New Zealand is a secular nation as being 'antichrist prophetic proclamations” intended to mean that our nation is no longer guided by what he describes as 'traditional biblical values”.

In fact, a secular nation only describes a state that is neutral in matters of religion, supporting neither religion nor irreligion.

It has nothing to do with a nation's 'traditional values”.

And further, it recognises that those values which Rev Whitcombe defines as 'biblical” are not the sole possession of Christianity. In fact, they are the same core values which are found in every religion and culture, and are cherished by both religious and non-religious alike, including Helen Clark.

D Campbell, Tauranga