Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Can I join SecularUK

No. SecularUK co-ordinates the activities of local groups - it has no membership.

We strongly recommend that you join the National Secular Society (NSS).

You can also join a local group if one has been established in your area.

If there is no group in your area, why not start one? It is easy to do and we can help you every step of the way. Please click here for more details.

How can I meet other secularists in my area?

Contact the local group - if there is one.

Contact us and we will put you in touch with anyone else we know about in your area:

What are the differences between an Atheist, Secularist and Humanist?

Please click here for more detailed definitions of these words.

Here is a summary:

• An ideology (sometimes called an "ism") is a set of ideas and beliefs about the world and how life should be lived within it.

  Ideologies may be religious (C of E, Catholic, Sunni, Shia etc.) or political (Fascism, Socialism, Communism etc.) Individuals may have more than one ideology: Humanist Socialists for example.

• All religions are ideologies and they all share two things: belief in a creator god and an immortal soul (for the "life after death"),
• Atheists don't need a religion, an immortal soul or a god. (They don't object if other people need one - as long as it causes no harm.)

  You cannot prove a negative (trying to prove that pink hippos cannot fly would be silly because no-one would propose that they could!) and it is up to those who propose something to prove it. Atheists see no need to propose the existence of a god and the best proof for the non-existence of one is the total lack of proof for there being one.

  There is no such thing as "atheism" because there is no ideology of "atheism". Atheists may be Humanists, Socialists, Liberals, Conservatives, Fascists, Anarchists or anything else. The only thing they share is their non-belief in a god.

• Secular means "relating to things of this world rather than a supernatural world." Obviously, the "things of this word" consist of everything we can see, touch, feel but also the emotional world we all share.

  Secularism is an "ism" but not an ideology, it is a set of political aims. Primarily those aims are to remove religion from the state, to remove religious ideas from the law, to end taxpayers' money being used to subsidise religion, to keep religion out of schools and to keep religion where it belongs - in the private not public arena.

• Humanism is an ideology. It is a set of ideas and beliefs about how human beings can live together socially by sharing what is common to all of us - our basic humanity.

  Empathy is the key ingredient of humanism - our ability to put ourselves into the position of other people and to see the world as they see it and feel about it. Without empathy there can be no civilisation.

  You do not have to be a member of any organisation to be a humanist.

  The British Humanist Association (BHA) shares many of the aims of the National Secular Society but it is not primarily concerned with achieving the political aims of the NSS. For example, the BHA provides non-religious material to be used in school RE lessons and it believes that there should be not more faith schools. The NSS is not an ideology so does not produce materials for schools and it believes that there should be no faith schools at all. You cannot say "no" to a request for Muslim school when over 30% of our current schools are already C of E or Catholic faith schools instructing pupils in Christianity.

  Many members of the NSS are also members of the BHA. The two groups come together to work on common campaigns.

© 2007 UK Secularists