Had you asked me a few years ago, I’d have described myself as pretty religious (probably Broad Anglican, but with a personal preference for High liturgies). Of late, that has changed, and I would probably call myself agnostic. That probably started with dissatisfaction with the church (for one thing, I support the ordination of women and homosexuals to all levels of priesthood) and that it was increasingly being used for expressing bigotry that not only had no basis in Christian teaching, but was antithetical to it.

I have always been a secularist, which I take to mean that a morality based on religion should not be privileged against a morality not based on religion, which means that I have a legitimate use for a very long word in saying that I am disestablishmentarian. That led to suspicions about some religious practices, which combined with a dislike of showing off one’s faith, led me to wider reading and a progressive change in belief. I disagree with Christopher Hitchens in that I do not believe that religion necessarily poisons everything, but I accept that it does, in actuality, poison quite a lot and I have always accepted the arguments around Russell’s Teapot that suggest that religion should not be shoved down anyone’s throat.

Something I wonder about is the extent to which my Christian upbringing and practice influences, for good and for ill, my current modes of thinking.

Religion, though, ‘matters’ beyond my personal thinking because lots of people use it as a justification for their actions.

xD.

For someone who supposedly doesn’t believe in Him, DAve, you spend a lot of time on Him.