Ideology
Secularism
Secularists generally argue that the state and public institutions should not be controlled by one religion.
01
Identity Card
- Name and etymology
- Latin saeculum ("worldly age"); term coined by G.J. Holyoake (1851).
- Type
- Political and social principle.
- Founder or origin
- Roots in Enlightenment; term and modern movement from Holyoake and others.
- Date and place
- 19th century, Europe; spread through modern statecraft.
- Adherents
- Foundational to many constitutions; widely embraced in democracies.
02
Source of Authority
- Primary scripture
- No scripture; constitutional and legal frameworks (e.g., French laïcité).
- Source of truth
- Public reason, neutral institutions.
- Authority structure
- Secular state, courts, neutral civic institutions.
03
Core Beliefs
- Core idea
- Secularism generally holds that government should treat citizens fairly regardless of religion and should not enforce one religious doctrine.
- View of God or ultimate reality
- Secularism does not make a claim about God; it focuses on how public institutions should operate.
- View of humanity
- Citizens equal regardless of religious belief.
- View of the world
- Public life governed by shared civic norms, not religious doctrine.
04
Practical Implications
- Purpose of life
- Not addressed — left to individual conscience.
- Ethics
- Pluralistic; rooted in human rights and civic norms.
- Afterlife
- Not a doctrinal claim.
- Key practices
- Religiously neutral public schools, courts, government offices.
05
Comparative Lenses
- Main branches
- Soft (accommodating) vs. hard (strict separation, e.g., laïcité).
- Relationship to others
- Sometimes welcomed by religions seeking freedom; sometimes opposed as anti-religious.
- Common critiques
- Charged with bias against religion; debates over symbols and dress.
- Modern adaptations
- Post-secular debates, accommodations for religious minorities.
Simple educational summaries. For religions, claims are attributed to scripture or major source texts where possible; where no scripture exists, wording describes what followers/supporters generally hold. References are starting points, not exhaustive academic citations.