STEVEN Lawrie’s linguistic dilemma (Letters, December 31) is easily resolved surely? Atheism is the belief that gods do not exist. It thus stands in extreme opposition to the belief that they do, that is, theism. There is the mid-way position of agnosticism - belief that neither claim can be demonstrated beyond reasonable doubt.

Recent concessionary suggestion, coming from Peter Kearney (“If we want to be a pluralists society, faith schools must play their part”, Agenda, The Herald, December 29) principally on behalf of the Scottish Catholic Church, to incorporate secularism as a “quasi-religion” within a broadly religious based (pre-tertiary?) education structure is evidently doomed to failure linguistically; for secularism is the opposition to religious connections; however and wherever. But linguistic failure is the least of the problem.

Theism is subdivided into religions such as Christianity, Judaism, Islam and so on, each with codified assumptions on the nature of specific deities. Secularism therefore being a denial of religious involvement might still present in three shades: theistic, atheistic and agnostic. Few adults as far as I am aware are extreme and vehement enough in their views as to deny freedom of thought and in particular freedom of religious thought and action, as Mr Kearney seems to think to the contrary. Many, however, believe that pre-tertiary education as organised by the state should deal largely and primarily with what is known or indisputably knowable, that is, should be largely non-speculative. Thereby pre-tertiary education would fall under the blanket of agnostic secularism (no speculation about deities or religious association) as it does constitutionally in some countries.

It is not the responsibility of the state-funded pre-tertiary educational system, the schools or their teachers to speculate upon the existence, nature or requirements of deities to their young pupils. If that is thought useful or necessary by any parent then the responsibility falls upon that individual to supply it, possibly via the good offices of the various religions and their denominations but, and this is the important point, outwith the state- provided educational system.

Darrell Desbrow,

Overholm, Dalbeattie, Kirkcudbrightshire.