Glossary

This glossary has been written to encourage debate and discussion.

It has been written from a Scottish perspective. This means terms used within Scotland may not have equivalent meaning when transferred to another part of the world. It has also to be remembered that terms are evolving and developing all the time and what is offered here reflects the discussions as it stands when this was written in June 2004.

Find term in the A to Z

Keyword search

Glossary of terms
Agnosticism	Agnosticism is the view that knowledge of the existence or non-existence of gods is impossible; agnosticism has to do with knowledge, not with belief (or disbelief or unbelief) someone who subscribes to this view is called an agnostic.
Anti-discrimination	An approach that is taken which challenges unfair treatment of individuals or groups based on a specific characteristic of that group e.g. colour, age, disability etc.
Anti-sectarian	Opposed to sectarian treatment: intended to challenge overt or belligerent insistence on one's group's beliefs or positions over another's.
Anti-sectarianism	An approach that is taken which challenges unfair treatment of individuals or groups based on their faith or beliefs.
Anti-Semitism	Anti-Semitism might strictly be used to refer to hatred of or hostility towards any member of the racial group "Semites". Semites were descendents of Shem, which included both Jews and Arabs. Now the term is issued mainly to refer to Jews and the term 'anti-semetic' to refer to hatred of or hostility towards Jews and Judaism. It was a key component of Nazism and is for Neo-nazism.
Assimilation	A situation where individuals are expected to give up their distinctive identity in order to fit in with the values, attitudes and behaviours of a dominant group or culture. In the UK, this term is often used to describe the process of immigrants blending into a host community, willingly or otherwise.
Atheism	A disbelief (or unbelief) in the existence of deity / God; the doctrine that there is no deity / God. Someone who believes in this doctrine is called an atheist.