Julian Symes is right about the importance of Muslim women feeling at home wearing their head scarves in Brighton (Letters, July 3).

If we want a healthy community people need to have both a sense of identity and being settled in the diversity that is our joy as a city.

The "secular modernists" spoken of are arrogant to imply religious conviction is at loggerheads with social well-being.

Religion is a key to living as homo sapiens. There may be wisdom elsewhere but it is not to be found in the mindless consumerism that is rife.

In my years working as a Christian priest, I have come to believe many of our social ills trace back to a lack of the sense of identity, affirmation and belonging that religion provides.

Muslims should definitely not be seen as foreigners in our city. We need their wisdom and their voice in helping us build the social cohesion necessary for Brighton and Hove's prized diversity to flourish.

Rev John Twisleton

-New Church Road, Hove