Experiencing a spirituality festival as a secular Humanist  By
Katie MacFadyen 13 Aug 2012   The focus is on diversity and co-
operation, and above all on being all-inclusive, without simply
blurring edges and boundaries.   The question of whether
Humanism and theism are or can be compatible is a difficult one.
Many Humanist organisations insist that Humanism necessitates
scepticism, secularism, and rejection of all supernatural
phenomena, but at the same time there are religious individuals
who happily identify as Humanists. So is Humanism compatible
with the Festival of Spirituality and Peace?  As a Humanist and
a Festival media intern and blogger, I clearly think so. Though
I do have the occasional disconcerting moment when I find
myself, a lifelong atheist, sitting alongside a bookshelf of
hymn books writing blurbs for prayer meetings, at its heart I
find the spirit of the Festival of Spirituality and Peace very
close to that of Humanism as I experience it.  Modern Humanism
draws on spiritual backgrounds i