POLITICAL SCIENCE PROJECT

COURSE: BA.LLB (REGULAR)

FIRST SEMESTER

THE MEANING OF
SECULARISM IN
THE 21ST CENTURY

SUBMITTED TO – Dr Momin Noor Jahan

By Afreen Afshar Alam
BA.LLB, First Year (Semester 1)
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The success and final outcome of this project required a lot of guidance and assistance from
many people and I am extremely privileged to have got this all along the completion of my
project. All that I have done is only due to such supervision and assistance and I would not
forget to thank them.

I respect and thank Dr Momin Noor Jahan, for providing me an opportunity to do the project
work and giving me all support and guidance which made me complete the project duly. I am
extremely thankful to him for providing such a nice support and guidance.

I would like to express my gratitude towards my parents and friends for their kind
cooperation and encouragement which helped me in completion of this project.
 INTRODUCTION
The word secular is one of the most frequently used words in modern politics, but
unfortunately it is not well understood. Secularism is the principle of the separation of
government institutions and persons mandate to separate the state from religious
institutions and religious dignitaries. It simply means that the state should not interfere with
the religious traditions and customs of their citizens.
Secularism as an ideology has been subjected to innumerable researches, examinations and
critically acclaimed studies. But all critics agree on one thing that secularism lays emphasis
on segregation of the state from religion of the citizens. Secularism has become an accepted
notion almost universally, but time and time again due to religious institutional framework of
mala-fide intention the world ‘peace’ has been threatened over the years. The word
Secularism could be compared to ‘Mercury’ which can adapt itself to the shape of container,
as the people and government interpret the term at their wimps and fancies 1. They try to use
this word for their own political benefits. Most of the countries in the 21 st Century are based
on democracy of a nation which runs on the wheels of people, if two or more religious
communities are the wheels of democracy then there would be conflicts, then Nations would
clash with injuries, which would ultimately reduce the strength of democracy. The separation
of religion and state is the foundation of secularism. It ensures religious groups don't interfere
in affairs of state and the state doesn't interfere in religious affairs. There is peaceful
coexistence between the state and religion.
 The word secular means "of this world" in Latin and is the opposite of religious. As a
doctrine, secularism is mostly used as a label for any philosophy which forms its ethics
without reference to religious beliefs and which encourages the development of human art
and science without the interference of the religion2.

1
"Secularism & Secularity: Contemporary International Perspectives". Edited by Barry A. Kosmin and Ariela
Keysar. Hartford, CT: Institute for the Study of Secularism in Society and Culture (ISSSC), 2007.

2
“A Secular Age’ by Charles Taylor
Secularism is opposed to all forms of institutionalized religious domination, it challenges not
only inter religious domination but intra religious domination as well. It promotes freedom
within religions and promotes equality between and within religions. Secularism is most
often associated with the Age of Enlightenment in Europe and it plays a major role
in Western society. The principles, but not necessarily the practices, of separation of church
and state in the United States and Laïcité in France draw heavily on secularism.

THE ORIGIN OF SECULARISM

The emergence of secularism can be traced back to the social and political situation existing
in Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries. The term itself was coined by Holyoake in
1851, but the emergence of the concept was understood in the context of the conflict between
Church and the State. It was through that this conflict was a gradual delimitation of the
spheres of the temporal and spiritual authorities that was made and which led to the evolution
of the various principles associated with secularism, that is, freedom of religion and of
conscience, tolerance, a democratic conception of citizenship, etc. The problem of the
relationship between religion and the State emerged with the rise of Christianity, with its
distinction between the spiritual and the temporal 3. Christians were constantly persecuted for
they refused to acknowledge the divinity of the Emperor4. The conflict between the two
continued for the next few centuries. A reforming tendency began within the Church with the
appointment of a number of reform-seeking Popes. One It started from the 11th Century. The
problem mainly revolved around the role of the temporal authority in the choice of Bishops5.
But the struggle for supremacy between the state and Church continued throughout the
middle ages. The idea of religious liberty and toleration was almost unknown in the middle
Ages. The medieval Church considered it to be its duty to force a like belief in all men6.

3
The Edict of Milan provided for neutrality on the part of the State in matters of religion. See Sidney Z. Euler
and John B. Moral, Church and state Through the Centuries, (Burns and Oates, London, 1954), pp 4-6
4
Ibid I
5
Ibid
6
Cecil North cott, Religious Liberty, (SCM Press, London, 1948), p.25.
As late as the 16th century freedom of religion was denied and persecution of heretics was
defended even by enlightened politicians such as Sir Thomas More. More defended the
preservation of heretics as something essential “not only to the preservation of true religion,
but also to the cohesion of civil society itself 7”. In the 17th century there was emergence of
enlightenment with scholars such as Descartes, Hobbes, Spinoza and Leibniz represented
“the first sustained attempt to construct a rational picture of the universe on the basis of
scientifically established knowledge8” and emphasized human values. The development of
modern science and the spirit of reasoned inquiry inspired the scholars and philosophers of
that time.
The gradual emergence and growth of the ideas of religion, Liberty and tolerance marked a
huge step towards secularism. Enlightenment, in the eighteenth century, was furthered
strengthened by Rousseau and Kant, resulting in increased rationalism and declining of
superstitions and dogmas. The European rulers, Attempted to reconstruct their State on the
basis of the teachings of the rationalist thinkers of the Enlightenment9.
Throughout the nineteenth century, the principles of religious liberty and toleration received
support and importance from political philosophers such as Bentham and Mill. Thus the
British utilitarian’s were philosophically, the sponsors of secularism10. Secularism, as a
doctrine, emerged in the late nineteenth century, especially in the works of Holyoake11.
Secularism as a modern concept was born in Britain, It was Holyoke, who was the first
person to say the word "secularism" and its systematic formulation was done mainly by him.
Charles Bredlaugh further elaborated its basic principles and virtually agreed with Holyoke.
The secularism of Holyoke was a conscious affirmation of the goals and urges of westerns
during the nineteenth century. These in turn were product of the renaissance period that
asserted the dignity of the person, and also the idea of liberalism of the nineteenth century.
The objective of secularism is to free human mind from the “illusion”, “neurosis”, and
“tyranny” of religion12.

7
Anthony Kenny, Reason and Religion, (Basil Blackwell, Oxford, 1987), p.170
8
B. Groethuysen, “Secularism”, in Edwin A. Seligman, (ed.), Encyclopedia of Social Sciences, VoI. XIII,
(Macmillan, New York, 1949), p.631.
9
Ehler and Morral, op. cit., p.202.
10
Eric S. Waterhouse, op. cit., p.348.
11
Eric S. Waterhouse, op. cit., p.349.
12
Non- Spiritual, having no concern with religious or spiritual matters, Encyclopedia Britannica,
Vol.20[London,1950],p.625
According to Dietrich Bonheoffer, Secularism lays emphasis on this world rather than the
supernatural, behavior rather than belief, freedom rather than obedience and a bold maturity
rather than conservatism13
According to Wilfred Cantwell Smith, "a secular state is a form of state so contrived as to
win and hold and deserve the loyalty and warm allegiance of any citizen of whatever religion
or of none"14
According to G.G.Hackman, secularism signifies the kind of life that is lived in complete
indifference to God and to religious values. The same view has been put with greater force
by15.
According to Reverend Leslie Newbigin thinks the term 'secularism' has been taken to refer
to 'a system of belief or on an attitude which in principle denies the existence or the
significance of realities other than those which can be measured by the methods of natural
science16.

THE PRINCIPAL OF SECULARISM

The most essential and important principle of secularism is to seek for human improvement
by material means alone. It holds that such means are the more important, because the more
proximate and that, independently and in themselves, they are adequate to secure the desired
end. Secularism arose and developed at a period when the relations of science and religion
were beginning to be seen as sharp opposite. It proclaimed the independence of this life and
can be maintained and tested by reason at work in experience. So it would be possible on the
same lines to establish a secular theory of the conduct and welfare and life, and to add the
instruction of the conscience to instruction in the sciences, in a similar manner and on similar
condition. Secularism held that its principle could be established and sustained by the
intellect as principles reason and intelligence equally applicable to all humanity.

13
Allan Bullock and Oliver Stally brass. Fontana Dictionary of Modern Thought,[London;14 State James
place1977],p.264
14
Quoted in M.V Kamath, Role of Religion in Secular State main stream. Volume ,xxvii, no 34, may 20,1989.p 9
15
George g, Hickman, Religion in Modern Life [1957] p, 283
16
Leslie Newbigin, Honest Religion for secular man, (London: 1966) p.8.
 SECULARISM AND SECULAR
STATE

A state would be called a "secular state" if it has no official religion of its own and is totally
indifferent to all the religions followed by its citizens in their private life. It grants every
individual the freedom to follow any religion or no religion in his/her personal life. It does
not compel him to promote any religion by paying taxes for its prorogation or by any other
means. A secular state does not dictate any kind of religious beliefs to its citizens, nor does it
force them to profess a particular religion or any religion at all. It means that the state would
remain neutral under all circumstances. The state will not have any religion of its own i.e. it
will promote any religion and at the same time it interfere with none.
Secular democracy is a form of representative democracy where elected representatives that
hold the government power are constrained by Constitution that ensures individual liberties,
adopts majority rule and respects the rights of minorities in society, such as freedom of
speech, religion, assembly, the right to privacy, private property, as well as equality before
the law and due process under the rule of law, etc17.
The ideal secular society will not have a State religion, even if all members of the community
confess to one faith. Liberal society does not punish apostasy or heresy. In a liberal
democracy, citizenship is not dependent on adherence of a certain religion. Religion is not a
constitutive element of citizenship. This principle is today accepted universally in many
democratic States18.
Arguably, one may conclude that in a liberal democracy religion is purely a private affair. It
is something people are and should be free to believe and practice what they please. Religion
should not be made a public affair and remain a private affair.

17
Patrick Dunleavy and Brendan O ` leary, Theories of the State: the Politics of Liberal Democracy, (1987), The
Macmillan Press LTD, PP. 25- 26
18
Austin Cline, Government Neutrality towards Religion, (atheism.about.com/od/weekly
quotes/a/fortas01.htm), last visited, 28/10/2017.
 CONCLUSION

Secularism as a political principle emerged during the time of renaissance and has been very
widely accepted in the twentieth and the twenty first century. Now most of the modern nation
states are multi-religious states, hence there is a need for tolerance of all religions . Secularism
is not an isolated local occurrence but rather a product of the wider cultural stage, influenced
by ideas of contestation against religious dominance and nascent nationalism.
Secularism is a system of social organization and education which believes that religion has
no part to play in the problems and events of everyday life. A secular society is the one that
engenders in or elicits from its members readiness to change customary orientation towards
or definition of values regarded as essential in that society. Secularism on the part of the
individual means a rational state of mind which refuses to recognize the arbitrary authority of
any individual. In the context of 'state’ or 'society', secularism means an endeavor on the part
of state or society to modernize the societal values.
The essential principle of secularism was to seek for human improvement by material means
alone and it should be considered as adequate to secure the desired end. Its principles could
be sustained by intellect and were equally applicable to all humanity. Morality was seen as
being based on reason and as seeking to establish the common welfare, Reason had to be
unfettered by religious considerations.
Secularism now plays a decisive role at present stage of almost all major democracies of the
world. It is so because today many world democracies seems to face the challenge of narrow
divisive trends and tendencies, a rational and scientific approach which is the basis of
secularism has become a matter of utmost importance.