Secularism – what does it mean exactly?

Over the years the meaning of the word Secularism has become confused and misunderstood. As well as changing its meaning, and being open to interpretation in different ways, the word has also been misrepresented by some religious interests who fear the influence of secularism on privileges that they have enjoyed for centuries and taken for granted.

The following definition, by Muriel Fraser, who edits the Concord Watch website is nearest to the understanding that the NSS has of secularism.

There is a thorough and wide-ranging examination of what secularism means in different parts of the world and how it is put into practice by some states called Secularism and Secularity – Contemporary International Perspectives, published here by the Institute for the Study of Secularism in Society and Culture.

What is secularism?

By Muriel Fraser

Many opponents of church-state separation try to distort the meaning of secularism. Some redefine it as state neutrality to allow their group (among others) to get state funding. Others try to discredit it by conflating secularism with atheism. Thus there are several senses of this word that we can safely ignore.

• Let’s skip the mediaeval origin of the word, where secular meant parish priests who were ‘in the world’ (in saeculo), as opposed to the monks who withdrew to a cloister.

• Nor need we concern ourselves with the nineteenth-century meaning of the word secularism that was originally coined to express the personal philosophy of one George Jacob Holyoake. He used it for the whole bundle of things which he felt would lead to human happiness, such as well-being, science and doing good. His word has survived, but not his definition.

• Let’s also skip the special pleading of humanist and other religious organisations for something variously called healthy secularism or state neutrality, that appears to be meant to justify all of them getting handouts from the state. They reject as radical secularism any attempt to get them to pay their own way.

• Finally, let’s ignore any clerics who try to conflate secularism with atheism.

Secularism = Separation of church & state

Instead, let’s stick with the word’s normal political use where it means separation of church and state. The French, the Turks and other nations use the local form of laicism to avoid the cumbersome phrase separation-of-religious-organisations-from-the-state. However, in English laicism just won’t fly and for this purpose Secularism is the obvious and, it seems, increasingly popular choice. For instance, in India, which constitutes one-sixth of humankind, this meaning of secularism is the only one, and while not always honoured in practice, it remains the national ideal.

Secularism, like democracy, involves treating people as individuals, not as members of a group.

• Democracy counts the votes of individuals. It doesn't let their unelected faith leaders speak for the whole group.
• Democracy allows individuals to express their opinions in the privacy of the voting booth where they are protected from group pressure.
• Democracy doesn’t have them ‘represented’ by powerful faith leaders whom they may not dare to challenge, for fear of being punished in this world or the next.

Secularism supports the individual against the pressure of the group and the individual conscience against the dogma of the group.

The French, who had to fight long and hard to achieve secularism, understand how precious it is – and how fragile.

The French Republic has always recognised individuals, rather than groups: a French citizen owes allegiance to the nation, and has no officially sanctioned ethnic or religious identity. This view of citizenship is fundamentally non-discriminatory and inclusive. [1]

Other writers and thinkers have made the following comments on secularism:

Jacques Berlinerblau, Director of the Program for Jewish Civilization at Georgetown University:
“A secularist is a person who advocates the strict separation of Church and State”. [2]

Thomas Jefferson, Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom:
“... No man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever …” [5]

‘Secularism’, BBC online:
“Secularists oppose religion or the religious being afforded privileges, which - put another way - means others are disadvantaged. [Religious secularists] don't think that belief is a reason for [their own] special treatment.” [4]

Richard Gilyead, letter to The Guardian:
“Tony Blair and Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor deliberately conflate secularism with atheism. Atheism is lack of belief in gods. Secularism is a belief in equality in politics, education and law, regardless of religious belief. So when they refer to militant secularism and aggressive secularism, respectively, then they are implying that such equality of treatment is a bad thing.” [6]

Mario Cuomo, then-governor of New York State,1984:
“I protect my right to be a Catholic by preserving your right to be a Jew, or a Protestant or a nonbeliever, or anything else you choose.” [3]

Notes

1. Henri Astier, The deep roots of French secularism, BBC News Online, 1 September 2004.
2. Jacques Berlinerblau, The God Vote, Georgetown/On Faith, 6 September 2007.
3. Mario Matthew Cuomo, Religious Belief and Public Morality, delivered 13 September 1984, The University of Notre Dame, South Bend, IN.
4. Secularism, BBC online.
5. The Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, written by Thomas Jefferson in 1779 and enacted in 1786.
6. Richard Gilyead, letter to The Guardian, 10 April 2008.
7. Perry Schmidt-Leukel, summarised in Jürgen Habermas, Intolerance and Discrimination, I.CON (International Journal of Constitutional Law), Volume 1, Number 1, 2003, p 7.
8. Pope Paul VI, Indulgentiarum Doctrina, 2, (1967)
9. Stephen Green of Christian Voice, a British Evangelical group, quoted in Arts, Briefly : Lords Spurn Springer Lawsuit, in New York Times, 6 March 2008.

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