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About Us

Politics

At present, the members tend to be more comfortable with left-wing rather than right-wing politics, but we are open to membership and contributions from people wherever they are on the political spectrum.

We welcome contributions from all parts of the political spectrum, as long as it is presented honestly and supported by evidence.

In any case, it is arguable (which we do here) that the left-right' divide is only one of many political questions we need to balance if we want to make good decisions in a complex world.

Religion

 At present, most of the members have grown up in Western secular democracies, which are largely based on aspects of the Christian tradition.  But, again, we are open to membership and contributions from people whatever their religious or non-religious background.

We treat religion in much the same way as we treat politics: whatever we believe, it affects our lives; you are free to believe whatever you want, but if you wish to persuade others of your beliefs, then expect people to ask you about the evidence for those beliefs.  And, as always on this site, but especially when talking about a religion or belief system, please be careful to ensure that any comments are fair and helpful.

We generally attempt to maintain a clear distinction between facts and faith, but recognize that, when you look at it carefully, the line is blurred.  In practice, the 'facts' are often the details which we agree are not subject to reasonable doubt.  If you think we draw the line in the wrong place sometimes, please feel free to point this out, and suggest a better alternative.

We tend not to draw a clear line between religious belief and other kinds of belief - partly because we see no need to, and partly because we see no objective way to do it.  Again, if you think we are wrong here, please feel free to point this out, and suggest a better alternative.

Sometimes, the dividing line between fact and faith depends on the subject matter: we would normally consider the 1969 Moon landing as a fact, but when talking about conspiracy theories, it may be more appropriate to consider it as a belief which is extremely well supported by evidence.