Julian Baggini sets out on a pilgrimage towards the truth, picking his way past the noisome swamp of New Atheist controversies, and skirting the forbidding crags of fundamentalism. Where can he find the promised land of reason?
Atheists are too often portrayed as bishop-bashing extremists and any meaningful debate with the religious becomes impossible. How can this be remedied? At the Guardian Open Weekend, Julian Baggini presented his 12 rules for heathens
Julian Baggini: Heathen's progress: It is a shame some responses to this series have been tribal, because atheists and believers can have a constructive dialogue
Yes, life without God can be bleak. Atheism is about facing up to that
Julian Baggini
Julian Baggini: Heathen's progress: Attempts to brighten up atheism's image miss its unique selling point – life can be brutal, yet we live in recognition of that
Why do the religious insist on presenting a united front?
Julian Baggini
Julian Baggini: Heathen's progress: Religious leaders of different faiths have no problem being critical of anyone – apart from each other. Something's going on
Julian Baggini:Heathen's progress: Atheists are irritated by emphasis on their 'tone', but that's because it's key to showing an understanding of the subject
'A secular state must be neutral' – what does that mean exactly?
Julian Baggini
Julian Baggini:Heathen's progress: A healthy secular society must allow for a plurality of ways of living – but these must never compromise the common good
Can a religion survive being stripped of its superstitions?
Julian Baggini
Julian Baggini: Heathen's progress: Removing a religion's supernatural core is a revealing exercise, especially when applied to the supposedly 'godless' Buddhism
Julian Baggini: Heathen's progress: Mark Vernon argues that we must always know more than we can express, but this is no excuse for expressing things we cannot know
You don't have to be religious to pray … but it helps
Julian Baggini
Julian Baggini: Heathen's progress: Religious rituals can provide real benefits, but try to separate them from the beliefs and they lose their potency and grip
Can it be rational for the religious to be non-rational?
Julian Baggini
Julian Baggini: Heathen's progress: Bypassing it with a leap of faith is problematic, but there's a serious debate to be had about rationality's limits
Heathen's progress so far – has the God debate been moved on?
Julian Baggini
Julian Baggini: Heathen's progress: We've addressed procedural points and grappled with the role of literal belief in religion. But tell me if this adds up to progress
Julian Baggini: Heathen's progress: This apocryphal lesson provides a possible response to my argument that religiosity is more about belief than practice
Julian Baggini: Heathen's progress: I can respect the intelligence of people who believe stupid things. It's a variant of 'hate the sin, love the sinner'
Is common ground between atheism and belief possible?
Julian Baggini
Julian Baggini: Heathen's progress: My articles of 21st-century faith have met with little enthusiasm. That may mean the common ground lies in a different area
Julian Baggini: Heathen's progress: My four articles make religion intellectually respectable, even to the hardest-nosed atheists. Can believers sign up to them?
To debate religion, we must first find out what people believe
Julian Baggini
Julian Baggini: Heathen's progress: Does true religion involve belief in mythical beings, or is it really practice not doctrine? To find out we need an empirical approach
