What is Secular Buddhism?

Can you be an atheist and a Buddhist? At first glance, it seems like it would be inconsistent to be both, to be someone who does not believe in God but belongs to a religion. But there is now a growing form of Buddhism, in the Western world at least, which is based on humanism…

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A Short Explanation of Theism, Atheism, and Agnosticism

Atheists often accuse theists of arrogance, since they claim to know, for certain, that God does not exist. Likewise, atheists are often accused of arrogance, since they claim with absolute certainty that God does not exist. Someone who does not want to get accused of arrogance might say that they are an agnostic – instead…

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Losing Faith in Faith Schools

According to the British Humanist Association (BHA), there are currently 7000 state-funded faith schools in the UK, mostly Christian, but all are legally allowed to discriminate on the basis of religion. Furthermore, all are exempt from the normal classroom inspections that other schools are subject to. This discrimination is unfair to children or teachers who…

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Protect People, Not What They Believe

On the 25th March 2010, the UNHCR, an agency that protects and supports refugees, passed a resolution that hoped to combat the ‘defamation of religions’. In other words, support is still being given to the idea that an international blasphemy law should exist. Such a law would make it an offence to express disrespect or contempt…

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Two Religious Customs That Should Be Outlawed

In the UK, we have freedom of religion like all other secular countries and it is a freedom which is supposed to entitle people the freedom to believe what they want and practise what they want without interference from the State. But some religious groups abuse this freedom and act in ways which we would…

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