Dorrit Pritchard speaking in front of a whiteboard. She wears a patterned blouse and has brown/red hair. She makes a point with outstretched hands.

To believe or not to believe? A humanist organiser’s perspective

Dorrit Pritchard, Convenor of Glasgow Humanists

April 15, 2025

Our movement is powered by our volunteers, people with a secular worldview who want to make a positive change in their communities. In this guest article, Dorrit Pritchard, Convenor of Glasgow Humanists, shares her perspectives on humanism.

To believe or not to believe, that is the question.

I am an atheist and a humanist. I do not, and have never had, any belief or faith in any god or religion. Faith for me is not a choice. I don’t have it and I can’t see how I would get it even if I wanted to. Some might say that if god wants you to believe in him he should send you a sign to prove his existence. However, those that believe in god say that, as atheists, it is up to us to prove beyond doubt that he does not exist. I don’t know how to prove the non-existence of something. However if I want to demonstrate that god does not exist, I would only have to look around at the state of the world. Surely he would not allow people to suffer so much.

David Baddiel, in his book The God Desire, talks about being an atheist or agnostic, and wishing that he did have a belief in god, as this would be of comfort to him. He wishes he could sense a higher purpose and a guiding light to his life. I absolutely take his point: that it would be good to have something that makes sense of life. However, again, I need some proof or evidence to believe in something, and, again, look at the world around us and tell me that god is at peace with his creation. Maybe he will, at some point, send another great flood, so he can start anew.

I prefer to put my faith and trust in science, knowledge, reason, humanity. and the things I can prove or demonstrate to be true within reasonable doubt.

The role of women in many religions is also an issue for me. For example, some orthodox married Jewish women have to wear a wig so that no man other than their husband can see their hair. I was told that this is because, thousands of years ago, a man said that a woman’s beauty lies in her hair. So it is the responsibility of women, as always, to protect men from their desires, rather than men taking responsibility for controlling their desires.

This is one example amongst many. Certainly, within Abrahamic religions, we can be pretty sure that, if god exists, he is a man. Perhaps this goes back to a woman, Eve, being responsible for the sin of eating an apple from the tree of knowledge. Yet it was the snake that tempted her. Again, women are expected to resist temptation, but men are expected to have help in resisting theirs.

All this and more, for me, makes it impossible to believe in any god or religion. I prefer to put my faith and trust in science, knowledge, reason, humanity. and the things I can prove or demonstrate to be true within reasonable doubt. I can’t prove that the sun will rise tomorrow, but I trust the laws of the universe enough to know that it will. As for god, I’m still waiting for a sign that he exists. If you’re there god, please let me know.

Support our campaign work, make a donation today

Our campaign work is funded by the generous support of our members and supporters. Support our campaign work and help to create a fairer Scotland and world.

Find out more

Donate now

Cartoon showing a person dropping a coin into a collection box.

Join us!

Your membership will help to fund our campaign work to make Scotland a more secular, rational, and socially just country, and to ensure everyone in Scotland has access to humanist ceremonies to mark important life events.

Find out more

Join now