meaningless at best and a sign of apathy or perhaps pathological denial at its worst. In other words, "I do not believe in God and I do not care to know if you do". The UK is probably the closest to a society where religion has become irrelevant. It is therefore precisely here in this country that we may have an opportunity to define what atheism means in a self-sufficient and meaningful form, not as a lazy alternative for antitheism. So what may this purer meaning be? In my view, the answer to this question becomes clearer when we begin to inspect the devastation and the barren lands left behind following the retreat of religion from the public consciousness. The ethical questions that have historically been muffled by the empty slogans and the circular tautologies recited pompously from the pulpit remain largely unanswered. Morally, we do have a secular way of defining the concept of "bad". It is called the legal system. Bad is what is illegal. However, not being "bad" does not make ones actions necessarily "good". We do not have a secular way of attempting to define "good". This is where atheism can become truly important. The fact that I haven't committed murder or theft or rape does not make me a good person. There are however certain things upon which we can all agree as humanists as being genuinely and almost universally good. Rescuing a drowning child, being kind to a stranger, expanding our knowledge, creating a