As part of our work to build a tolerant society, we try to build bridges between humanists and religious communities – educating both sides and building links in support of a peaceful, plural society.

If you are interested in getting involved in dialogue, see below to find out more about our dialogue network and training.

Check out our interviews with Humanists UK’s Dialogue Officer and with Dialogue Network member, Hannah McKerchar, for insights into why humanists engage in dialogue.

What do we mean by ‘dialogue’?

By ‘dialogue’ we mean engagement between people with different approaches to life to build mutual understanding, identify common ground and, where it makes sense, engage in shared action.

We do not mean failing to challenge ideas and activities we believe to be harmful, or failing to recognise areas of disagreement. Mutual understanding means understanding differences as well as common ground.

Debate, unlike dialogue, is adversarial, with each side trying to persuade an audience to adopt one rival view and ultimately to win. We participate in many debates but recognise that they are not the only way to engage.

‘Interfaith dialogue’ is an established term often used by religious people. Taken literally, it excludes people of no faith, but about half the people in Britain, including all humanists, do not identify with any ‘faith’. In practice, and for many years, humanists have worked constructively alongside religious people both at national and local level. In some cases local groups have changed their names from ‘interfaith’, often to ‘faith and belief’.

Why does Humanists UK engage in dialogue?

We want to see a world where everyone lives cooperatively on the basis of shared human values, respect for human rights, and concern for future generations. We believe this entails viewing people who have different views from ours first-and-foremost as fellow human beings, rather than ‘The Other’. That does not mean failing to argue for what we believe is right; or challenging words and activities we see as harmful, but it does mean listening, understanding, looking at evidence, treating people fairly, and avoiding ill-informed generalisations. It also means being willing to work with others of different beliefs for the common good.

Living cooperatively is essential for the type of secular state we want to see, where the human right to freedom of thought and expression is guaranteed, where there is no religious privilege, and where everyone is treated equally regardless of religion or belief.

As well as understanding others, we want to help religious people understand humanists and humanism by supporting groups to take part in effective dialogues of their own. See our ‘Guideline for humanists engaging in small group dialogue with religious people‘ for more information.

I find meeting and talking with people from faith backgrounds really fulfilling because it shows me that agreement and even friendship is possible with people who hold fundamentally different beliefs to myself.
Stuart Elton, dialogue network volunteer

Why is dialogue important now?

In terms of religion, philosophy, and worldviews, British society is going through a profound change:

• Far more people say they do not belong to any religion. The British Social Attitudes survey has been run annually since 1983. When asked ‘Which religion or denomination do you consider yourself as belonging to?’ in 1983, 32% of people said they did not consider themselves as belonging to a religion. Since 2016, it has been over 50% – a change that is even more pronounced in younger people.
• The mix and religiosity of those who do say they belong to a religion is changing. There are now many fewer Anglicans (down from 40% in 1983 to 12-13% by the early 2020s, with a weighting towards older age groups pointing to continued decline). The population of Catholics has declined more slowly, to around 8% by the early 2020s. And there has been growth in the number of other types of Christians (around 16% in the early 1980s to over 20% now, well exceeding the number of Anglicans). While traditional nonconformist sects such as Methodists have declined, growth has come from Pentecostals, new independent evangelical churches, and Orthodox Christianity, with immigration a significant factor. The proportion of people identifying with non-Christian religions has also grown, with weighting towards younger age groups. According to the 2021 Census, 11% of the population identifies with a non-Christian religion. 7% identify as Muslim, with a big diversity of types of Islam, reflecting origins and global trends.

A humanist in a dialogue listens carefully, advocates respectfully, and values the diversity of human experience and endeavour.  They are curious but logical, patient but principled, objective but compassionate.
Joanna Mutlow – SPaRC Practitioner (humanist) at Bradford Teaching Hospitals

How Humanists UK engages in dialogue

Many aspects of Humanists UK’s work involves engagement with people from religious backgrounds.  For example, we work with the Network for Pastoral, Spiritual and Religious Care in Health, the All Party Parliamentary Group on International Freedom of Religion or Belief, the Accord Coalition for Inclusive Education, and we are long-standing and active members of the Religious Education Council of England and Wales, a group bringing together representatives from many religion and belief organisations which share the goal of high-quality education about religion and worldviews.

Being involved in dialogue has helped me to understand that we are all the same, we just have different ways of making sense of life’s bigger questions.
Julia Beckett, dialogue network volunteer

Larger events and public speaking

Humanists are often invited to speak in schools as members of multi-belief panels, and interact constructively with students from all sorts of backgrounds. There are humanist members of local Standing Advisory Councils on Religious Education (SACREs) across England, and Standing Advisory Councils for Religion, Values and Ethics (SACs) in Wales. Humanists in pastoral support roles in hospitals and prisons work alongside colleagues from faith groups. Humanist Celebrants often work with families containing a mix of humanist and religious members. And there are humanist members of faith and belief/’interfaith’ forums throughout England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, getting involved in all sorts of local activities in order to help enhance social cohesion. We have participated in a wide range of other dialogue events and activities over many years, including the British Islam conference,  ‘Common Ground: Conversations among Humanists & Religious Believers and the Catholic/humanist interaction described in ‘Careless Talk’. All these cases require constructive interactions and relationships with people having different beliefs and identities.

Dialogue network and training