Home > Secularism
:This article concerns secularism, the exclusion of religion and supernatural beliefs. For other forms of being secular, and perspective on the terminology underlying the word "secularism", see secularity.
Secularism means:
- in philosophy, the belief that one's own life can be best lived, and the universe best understood, with little or no reference to a god or gods or other supernatural concepts.
- in society, 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 government, a policy of avoiding entanglement between government and religion (ranging from reducing ties to a state church to promoting secularism in society).
Secularism can also mean the practice of working to promote any of those three forms of secularism.
In studies of religion, modern Western societies are generally recognized as secular:
- There is near-complete freedom of religion (one may believe in any religion or none at all, with little legal or social sanction);
- Religion does not dictate political decisions, though the moral views originating in religious traditions remain important in political debate in some countries, such as the United States; in some others, such as France (see Laïcité), religious references are considered out-of-place in mainstream politics.
- Religion is excluded from, or minimized in, the public sphere.
- Religion is not as important in most people's lives as it once was.
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. The lightning rodA lightning rod is a metal strip or rod, usually of copper or similar conductive material, used to protect tall or isolated structures (such as the roof of a building or the mast of a vessel) from lightning damage. Other names include lightning conductor, for example, played a part during this period, due to the lack of its adoption by churches until the occurrence of disasterA disaster is an unexpected natural or man-made catastrophe of substantial extent causing significant property damage or destruction, loss of life or sometimes permanent changes to the natural environment. Disasters may also be unforeseen events which dev.
1 See also
- When secularism is claimed in theory but not in practice
- pseudo-secularismPseudo-secularism in a societal setting is the state of implicit non-secular trends in the face of pledged secularism. This is usually an allegation by groups who perceive a double-standard exhibited within the established secular governing policy towards
- Ideas that are considered forms of secularism include
- agnosticismThe terms agnosticism and agnostic were coined by Thomas Henry Huxley in 1869. The concept however has long existed: the philosophical and theological view that the existence of God, gods or deities is either unknown, or inherently unknowable. The term is
- atheismAtheist" redirects here. For the music group, see Atheist (band). Atheism is the condition of lacking theistic belief. Etymology The term atheism (French atheisme from athee meaning atheist, from Greek atheos, meaning godless : a-, without; + , theos, mea
- laïcité
- rationalism
- scientific materialism
- separation of church and state
- Organizations that advocate it include
- Contrary trends include
- Other related topics include
