Secularism

Identification

Secularism is the belief that religion should not influence decisions made by the government or anything else that may effect the public life. It is an advocation of separating the church and the state. It is regarded as a method for modernization. Many key historical figures such as Voltaire, Diderot, Locke and Paine supported the idea. The term first surfaced in 1851 and was first used by George Jacob Holyoake. Secularism was supported by the intellectuals who realized that it aligned with their philosophy of self-improvement.

Historical Significance

Today, most countries in the world are secular, a lot of them don’t even have a state religion. Secularism has led to modernization by allowing radical thoughts and reforms to be discussed more freely. Secularism was a significant source of newly emerging creed of scientific naturalism in the mid- nineteenth century. It also led to liberalism and progressiveness. This led to modernization of several countries, which led to industrial revolution and increased the scientific, social and economic progress exponentially. Secularism was promoted by nationalist states, organized religion was undermined in many nationalistic states, such as France, Germany and Turkey. Secularism was also promoted in socialist and communist states, where people were mostly Atheists.

Key Historical Proponents

French Revolution had several effects on the relationship between the state and the church. A new religion was being developed by the revolutionaries, where the people worship a creator, but there was no head of an organized religion. Later on French secularism was called Laicite.

Another example of secularism is Turkey. The republic was founded in 1923 by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, where it adopted a secular policy similar to France. The republic cracked down on all religious affairs harshly, and brought them all under state control. Just like France, all government employees must not wear religious symbols or articles. But, today those laws are changing.

Another example of secularism is the United States of America, but their secular policies are different from the European model. There are amendments which prohibits the congressional government from interfering with the free exercise of religion and establishment of religion. It is regarded in higher regard compared to the European model, because it creates a co-operative environment between the government and other religions.

Jaan Parekh

 

Bibliography

Bonham, John M. Secularism, Its Progress and Its Morals. New York; London, 1894.

RECTENWALD, MICHAEL. “Secularism and the cultures of nineteenth-century scientific naturalism. ” British Journal for the History of Science , Vol. 46 Issue 2, Jun2013 , Jun2013 . Historical Abstracts, 10.1017/S0007087412000738.

Tombuş, H. Ertuğ . “(Post-)Kemalist Secularism in Turkey. ” Journal of Balkan & Near Eastern Studies , Aygenç, Berfu , Vol. 19 Issue 1 , Feb2017 , p70-85 . Historical Abstracts, 10.1080/19448953.2016.1201995