Most human beings subscribe to the basic moral values of truth, kindliness and respect for other people, for their personal autonomy. Ethical inquiry is the means whereby these values can be actualised in practice - including, if necessary, the means whereby these values can be reconciled with one another. Were this not so there could be no grounds for common action by humanists and non-humanists. In fact there are such grounds in many areas of endeavour. The senses cannot validate sense data - we have to assume that our senses give us dependable guidance as to a real 'out there'.
Religious believers rest upon the perceived absolute truth of their axioms, their dogmas.
A corollary of this is that Humanists accumulate a body of revisable experience while religionists accumulate a deposit of faith. But humanists, placing no absolute trust in a priori assertions, insist also that . . . Humanists cannot 'do business' with those dogmatic religionists who pin their faith to absolutes - any more than the different kinds of absolute dogmatists can, honestly, do business with one another. But there are other religious believers who pin their faith in honest inquiry - even if humanists do not necessarily agree with the answers they suggest and see fit to believe. Humanists can and should maintain dialogue with the more questioning religious believers and to do so is to mutual advantage.