Central to most religions is the belief in an all-powerful deity, and praying assumes that through supernatural means this entity can hear us. Humanists don’t believe there is a god, so we do not pray, considering it a pointless exercise, or, worse, a distraction from actively seeking solutions.

This mistaken focus might have contributed to the death toll in Central Africa in  1994, when widespread violence broke out in rural Rwanda and some 800,000 people were slaughtered, mainly Tutsis by Hutus. Tutsis are mostly Christian, and we can assume anxious villagers must have prayed desperately as news of the approaching Hutu gangs spread. So, either almost a million prayers were ignored by an all-knowing, all-powerful God – or there was simply no-one listening.

Nevertheless while Humanists continue to place their faith in human endeavour, they accept that in certain circumstances belief and prayer can mitigate emotional suffering for some people.

MIRACLES

Accounts of miracles – the interruption of the laws of nature – can also be proof for many that God exists. But on closer scrutiny, we often find these marvels to be the result of statistical chance. For example, the small number of healings that have occurred at Lourdes in France among the many millions of pilgrims over the years probably matches the incidence of spontaneous recoveries that occasionally occur in hospitals.

Events considered as miracles can also be the result of exaggeration. Stories of the wonders performed by Jesus were told through oral tradition before being written down many years later – and as we know, the more times an event, particularly an exciting one, is repeated, the more exaggerated and fantastical it becomes.

When it comes to seemingly impossible visual occurrences, we often find that they are simply a case of trickery; and certainly in a more naive and less sceptical age slick conjuring was more likely likely to be seen as miraculous. For example, ‘walking on water’ can be performed a quarter mile out in the shallows of Poole Harbour at low tide – to the amusement of observers onshore.

A further caution comes from the American philosopher and cognitive scientist Daniel Dennett who considered faith in miracles to be ‘a failure of the imagination’.

Dostoevsky tells us that ‘If God does not exist, then everything is permitted’ – which implies that belief in a god restrains us from taking immoral actions. Yet in some areas of human activity, the facts seem to tell a different story. Catholic priests forego worldly possessions and family life, and taking appearances at face value, it is hard to imagine anyone more dedicated and trusted. But a higher proportion than average of these men are found guilty of arguably the most heinous crime in terms of lasting damage: child sexual abuse.

So, apart from the constraints on natural instincts imposed by their vows, how do we account for such behaviour from otherwise exemplary individuals?

The writer Simone DeBouvoir gives us her answer by inversion: ‘Without God to pardon us for our sins it is we are who are totally and inexcusably responsible for our actions.’