What is Secularism?
In politics, secularism is the idea that church power and government power must be kept apart. A secular state has no official faith, does not impose religious law and gives equal rights to believers and nonbelievers. Do not mistake it for atheism. Many secularists are devout, and believe religion is freer when the government keeps out. It also differs from secularization, which is the slow fall in religious influence in a society. Countries apply the idea in different ways, from strict separation to equal respect for every faith.
Core beliefs
- Church and state should have separate spheres.
- The government should not set up, fund or prefer any religion.
- All citizens are equal whatever they believe.
- Laws should rest on reasons that believers and nonbelievers can both accept.
- Freedom of conscience includes the right to change or leave a religion.
History
After Europe's wars of religion, thinkers argued for toleration. John Locke's Letter Concerning Toleration (1689) said that government should look after civil interests while souls are a private matter. The US First Amendment of 1791 blocked any national established church, and in 1802 Thomas Jefferson called this a wall between church and state. The word secularism was coined in 1851 by the British writer George Jacob Holyoake, and Charles Bradlaugh fought for secular rights in Britain. France passed its law separating churches from the state on 9 December 1905, the base of laicite. In Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk ended the caliphate in 1924 and drove through secular reforms. In 1976 India put the word secular into the opening text of its constitution.
Variants
The American model separates church and state but allows plenty of public religious expression. French laicite stresses a neutral state and limits religious symbols in places such as public schools. India's approach is equal respect for every religion, and the state does deal with some religious affairs. Some countries, like the United Kingdom, keep a state church and still govern in a mostly secular way. Imposed forms went beyond separation and attacked religion itself, as in the Soviet Union and in Albania, which declared itself an atheist state in 1967.
Criticisms
Religious critics say secularism drives faith out of public life and ranks religious reasons below others. Scholars such as Charles Taylor and Talal Asad argue it is not neutral, and carries assumptions shaped by Western Christian history. Opponents of French laicite say its rules hit Muslim women in headscarves hardest. Others say strict separation makes it harder for religious groups to run schools and charities with state support. Supporters answer that it is the fairest way to protect both believers and nonbelievers in a mixed society.
In practice
Most democracies today are secular in some way, but they differ widely. Common features are no state religion, the same legal footing for every faith, civil marriage, and state schools without religious teaching. Fights continue over religious dress, school prayer, public money for faith schools and exemptions from general rules. On the 12 axes it scores at the Secular pole of Religion, and leans toward Progressive on Morality, with an economic profile that sits near the center.