Secularism

From Free net encyclopedia

Secularism is a form of governance that is not affiliated with any particular religion.

1 Secular movements
2 The secular ethic
3 The secular society
4 The secular state
5 Criticism of Secularism
6 Secularist organizations
7 See also
8 References
9 Bibliography
10 External links

Secular movements

In political terms Secularism is a movement toward the separation of church and state as opposed to a union.

As the term "secularism" is often used in different contexts, its precise definition can vary from place to place. Democracy is not necessarily secular. For example, the United States of America is a democracy but still has "in God we trust" printed on its currency. Another example is the Iraqi Constitution which seeks to establish a democratic government but also calls for the Supreme Federal Court to be made up of judges who are experts in Sharia (Islamic Law).

Its proponents argue secularism is the concept that states should be governed by a process of reasoning rather than dogmatic belief. Its opponents argue that secularism is a concept which, instead of presenting freedom of religion, actually holds all religions in contempt.

A government based on the peoples ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity being protected by the rule of law are seen as superior to a government based on the divine rights of kings, however the ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity existed for over a century before the LaГЇcitГ© law was introduced.

Secularism may also be defined as the idea that religion should not interfere with or be integrated into the public affairs of a society.

It is often associated with the Age of Enlightenment in Europe, and plays a major role in Western society. The principles, but not necessarily practices, of separation of church and state in the United States and laГЇcitГ© in France draw heavily on secularism.

Secularism can also be the social ideology in which religion and supernatural beliefs are not seen as the key to understanding the world and are instead segregated from matters of governance and reasoning. For other forms of being secular, and perspective on the terminology underlying the word "secularism", see secularity.

When applied to society, secularism is considered to be any of a range of situations where a society less automatically assumes religious beliefs to be either widely shared or a basis for conflict in various forms, than in recent generations of the same society. In this sense secularism is linked to the sociological concept of secularization and may be upheld as an academic thesis, rather than advocated as a desirable state of affairs.

In government, secularism means a policy of avoiding entanglement between government and religion (ranging from reducing ties to a state religion to promoting secularism in society), of non-discrimination among religions (providing they don't deny primacy of civil laws), and of guaranteeing human rights of all citizens, regardless of the creed (and, if conflicting with certain religious rules, by imposing priority of the universal human rights).

Secularism can also mean the practice of working to promote any of those three forms of secularism. It should not be assumed that an advocate of secularism in one sense will also be a secularist in any other sense. Secularism does not necessarily equate to atheism; indeed, many secularists have counted themselves among the religious.

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The secular ethic

Holyoake's 1896 publication English Secularism defines secularism thus:

Secularism is a code of duty pertaining to this life, founded on considerations purely human, and intended mainly for those who find theology indefinite or inadequate, unreliable or unbelievable. Its essential principles are three: (1) The improvement of this life by material means. (2) That science is the available Providence of man. (3) That it is good to do good. Whether there be other good or not, the good of the present life is good, and it is good to seek that good.

Holyoake held that secularism should take no interest at all in religious questions (as they were irrelevant), and was thus to be distinguished from militant freethought and atheism. In this he disagreed with Charles Bradlaugh, and the disagreement split the secularist movement between those who argued that anti-religious propaganda and activism was not necessary or desirable and those who argued that it was.

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The secular society

In studies of religion, modern Western societies are generally recognized as secular. Generally, there is near-complete freedom of religion (one may believe in any religion or none at all, with little legal or social sanction). In the West, it is believed religion does not dictate political decisions, though the moral views originating in religious traditions remain important in political debate in some countries, such as Canada, France and others. (see LaГЇcitГ©), religious references are considered out-of-place in mainstream politics. Religious influence is also largely minimised in the public sphere, and religion no longer holds the same importance in people's lives as it used to.

Modern sociology, born of a crisis of legitimation resulting from challenges to traditional Western religious authority, has since Durkheim often been preoccupied with the problem of authority in secularized societies and with secularization as a sociological or historical process. Twentieth-century scholars whose work has contributed to the understanding of these matters are Max Weber, Carl L. Becker, Karl LГ¶with, Hans Blumenberg, M.H. Abrams, Peter L. Berger, and Paul BГ©nichou, among others.

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The secular state

Most major religions accept the primacy of the rules of secular, democratic society. The majority of Christians are proponents of a secular state, and may acknowledge that the idea has support in biblical teachings, specifically in the book of Luke, chapter 20, verse 25. In this verse, in response to a question about taxes, Jesus said, "Then give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's." However, fundamentalism opposes secularism. The most significant forces of religious fundamentalism in the contemporary world are fundamentalist Christians and fundamentalist Islam.

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Criticism of Secularism

Proponents of secularism have long held a general rise of secularism in all the senses enumerated above, and corresponding general decline of religion in so called 'secularized' countries, to be the inevitable result of the Enlightenment, as people turn towards science and rationalism and away from religion and superstition. Image:Liberte-egalite-fraternite-tympanum-church-saint-pancrace-aups-var.jpg Opponents argue that this is an arrogant claim and that secularism does not deliver the benefits that it promises and that secularism creates more problems than it solves. For example, countries such as Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Finland and Denmark, all of which have a constitutional link between Church and State, are far more progressive and liberal societies than countries without such a link, like Turkey or France. It should be noted though that Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Finland and Denmark are among the most secular countries in the world when measuring the amount of religious persons as percent of the population.

For example, Iceland was among the first countries to legalise abortion, and the Finnish Government provides funding for the construction of Mosques.

Opponents contend therefore that a Christian state, for example, can give more freedom of religion than a secular one.

It is also questioned whether secularism actually exists, as some argue that a person can never "get outside of" the particular time and place into which he or she is born. This historical contingency therefore grounds all personal thought and belief within a certain cultural framework, which itself has been influenced by a certain religion or religions. For example, since legislators are by definition members of a certain nation or culture, their idea of what is acceptable and what is not is rooted in the country's tradition of thought and values. Therefore, legislators may be working within a tradition that is either indistinguishable from or highly interrelated with its current and/or past religions.

It is also claimed that it is unfair to have a secular state that represents preferentially those without a religion when the population is predominantly part of certain religion.

In European history, secularism laws were mostly enacted to take political power away from clergy rather than due to any libertarian principles.

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Secularist organizations

Groups such as the National Secular Society (United Kingdom) and Americans United campaign for secularism and are often supported by those who practice Secular humanism. However, there is also support from non-humanists. In 2005, the National Secular Society held the inaugural "Secularist of the Year" awards ceremony. Its first winner was Maryam Namazie, of the Worker-Communist Party of Iran.

Another secularist organization is the Secular Coalition for America. While it is linked to many secular humanistic organizations and many secular humanists support it, as with the Secular Society, some non-humanists support it.

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References

Siddiqui, Hannana (2000). "Black Women's Activism: Coming of Age?". in Feminist Review, No. 64, Spring 2000, pp.83-96.

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Bibliography

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The secular ethic

Jacoby, Susan (2004). Freethinkers: a history of American secularism. New York: Metropolitan Books. ISBN 0805074422

Boyer, Pascal (2002). "Religion Explained: The Evolutionary Origins of Religious Thought"  ISBN 0465006965

Nash, David (1992). Secularism, Art and Freedom. London: Continuum International. ISBN 0718514173 (paperback published by Continuum, 1994: ISBN 071852084X)
Royle, Edward (1974). Victorian Infidels: the origins of the British Secularist Movement, 1791-1866. Manchester: Manchester University Press. ISBN 0719005574 Online version
Royle, Edward (1980). Radicals, Secularists and Republicans: popular freethought in Britain, 1866-1915. Manchester: Manchester University Press. ISBN 0719007836

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The secular society

See also the references list in the article on secularization

Chadwick, Owen (1975). The Secularization of the European mind in the nineteenth century. Cambridge University Press.
Cox, Harvey (1996). The Secular City. NY: Macmillan.
Martin, David (1978). A General Theory of Secularization. Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN 0631189602
Martin, David (2005). On Secularization: towards a revised general theory. Aldershot: Ashgate. ISBN 0754653226
McLeod, Hugh (2000). Secularisation in Western Europe, 1848-1914. Basingstoke: Macmillan. ISBN 0333597486
Wilson, Bryan (1969). Religion in Secular Society. London: Penguin.