The NHS’s new humanist chaplain is a welcome sign of our shifting spirituality | Andrew Brown

Formal religious belief may be falling off, but the need for ritual to mark major life events is still strong

The appointment of 28-year-old Lindsay van Dijk as a humanist chaplain at the Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS trust, leading a team of three Christians, is a rather overdue acknowledgment of the changing religious nature of Britain. It should also make us think about the nature and function of religion, and how little this has to do with belief. Humanism is increasingly the default position in England when people don’t want to think about theology or religious questions. It has replaced “C of E” as the translation of a muffled “don’t know” in questions about religious identity. It’s not the same as atheism, which implies a much sharper-edged conception of identity.

Humanists and C of E congregants are both nice people, who believe in the value of decency

Related: Atheists who bring logic to the Easter story are missing the point | Julian Baggini

Continue reading... April 10, 2018 at 08:18PM