Has this nation lost its soul? The answer has to be yes. And confirmation came last Friday in a letter to the editor from a reader who said he woke up on a lovely spring morning, then read my column, and it ruined his day. He accused me of breeding negativity and suggested I write about some of the "positive daily achievements of our society".

In other words: Don't trouble me with all the nasty things that are going on, I just want to enjoy life. Which is an attitude obviously held by most New Zealanders these days and helps to explain why so little is ever done to solve, rather than just tinker with, the virulent social ills afflicting us.

But, thank God, there are still some who are aware, as shown by the 30-plus emails I received this week from readers who share my concern.

The measure of a society's soul is the way it treats its most vulnerable members - children, the elderly, the poor and the disabled - and on this measure we fail miserably.

Children by the thousand are being physically and sexually abused, too often gruesomely murdered, and deprived of the necessities of life.

The elderly are under increasing attack from sexual and physical violence, even by members of their own families.

The gap between rich and poor is widening, depriving many of the right to live even a subsistence life and forcing many to work so hard that family life is non-existent. And the disabled are too often the target of predators, manipulators and exploiters while a careless and politically correct Government deprives hundreds of the opportunity to be usefully employed.

Why? There is one overriding reason: we are three-dimensional beings; we consist of body, mind and spirit, and most of us ignore our spiritual selves. Which explains why so many people who have all they need and more of money, property and prestige, remain restless and dissatisfied, uneasily aware that there has to be more to life than this. Many resort to drugs and booze. There was a time when Judeo-Christian virtues and values, including the sanctity of life, were accepted without question. Most children went to Sunday school, whether their parents accompanied them or not. Thus were the traditions of morality and behaviour upon which the health of society depends passed from generation to generation.

Nowadays only a small fraction of the populace attends church, and many churches have closed their children's ministry because of lack of interest - a significant factor in the loss of those absolutes that once made this nation a world leader in social development. That has led to the loss of the nation's soul, the unravelling of our moral fibre to the extent that there are but a few strands left. It has let loose the destructive forces of sexual immorality, individual selfishness and rampant greed.