WHAT IS SECULARISM?

Quick Question: what exactly is secularism?

I mean, depending on where you get your news and information, you might think it's an evil attack on Christianity, an enlightened metaphysical view point, or a governing principle of the Soviet Union. All of these perspectives are essentially wrong.

Secularism is neither an attack on any particular religion, nor an endorsement of any metaphysical view point. And at certain points in history, the government of the Soviet Union actively promoted the dismantling of religiosity of the population. That's actually a total violation of the principle of Secularism.

The term was coined by British writer, George Jacob Holyoake, to describe his views of promoting a social order that is neither connected to religion, nor critical of it. As he put it:

“Secularism is not an argument against Christianity, it is one independent of it. It does not question the pretensions of Christianity; it advances others.”

At its core, secularism can be defined as “without reference to religion”. So, there can be secular morals, secular science, or secular bunny rabbits. Most commonly, though, the term Secularism is used to refer to State Secularism.

State secularism is the separation of government institutions from religious institutions, or as it is most frequently put, the separation of church and state. In practice, this means that a secular government is one that does not involve itself in religious affairs.

Secularism is not a monolith. Different secularists sometimes have diverging policy perspectives regarding religion. Take for example, religious exceptions for police uniforms. Some secularists believe that religious minorities should have the right to wear slightly adapted uniforms to meet the restrictions of their religions. For example, allowing Sikhs to wear their turbans rather than a police cap. The principle at work here is that not allowing this uniform exemption would discriminate against Sikhs, preventing them from participating in a state function. Other secularists hold that their should be no religious exemption here, because the uniform represents the authority of the government, and having religious identifiers intermingled with a representation of state authority is itself a violation of the principle of secularism. These two opposing arguments are not necessarily equally good, but they are equally secular.

The American constitution establishes America as a secular state with two clauses, the establishment clause and the free exercise clause, both found back to back in the first Amendment, which reads:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

In general, secularism seeks to promote a society in which:

There is no official state religion
The government does not promote or condemn any particular religion or religious view point
Everyone is allowed to believe whatever they want and practice whatever religion they choose
No one is discriminated against based on their faith
Religious organizations have no role in determining government policy
The government has no role in determining the precepts of any religious organization
The rights of religious minorities are protected
The religion of an individual has no impact his or her rights or societal status
All members of a society are considered equal in all regards, regardless of religious associations or faith

So, don't get it twisted. Secularism is not Atheism. State secularism is about allowing a community of diverse religious perspectives to govern themselves without allowing the power of the state to put its thumb on the scale in regards to religion. In a well-functioning secular society, people of all faiths (or lack there of) should be able to come together to form the rules of their community without reference to religious perspectives. Secularism is not about believing in a deity, or not believing in those things. It's about what we can all agree on, regardless of our spirituality, faith, or metaphysical view points.

#secularism
#questiontime
#secular

[iammrbeat]

Well done. I just completed a video about Engel v. Vitale, and this is totally related!

[mildmagician]

"A viewpoint that you share exactly with someone you idolize is like the view from a prison cell"

[boutsam]

Just a question. When you separate state and religion. How are you going to rule the state's affairs? How are you going to construct your social project? And to what ideas you are going to refer to? And what philosophy is going to be the basis of these ideas? I think that the so called secularism is simply exchanging one religion for another.

[americanliberal]

3:11 Agreed. Secularism shouldn't be synonymous with atheism. But too bad that you actually have some atheists, and even some christians who still wanna believe that it is, because every single time when i type up irreligion on google.

It always equates with atheism, and then they tend to lump up agnostics along with atheists as if they're some kind of a monolithic group. But in reality, they're really not, because atheists, and agnostics don't have anything in common with each other.

And, some people still wanna believe that all agnostics are secular humanists. But the problem is that agnostics are not a monolithic group that you can easily pin down, because there is no core value on what it is to be an "agnostic".

So, therefore, humanism as a non-theistic philosophy doesn't even apply to all non-religious people. That'll be no different than saying that marxism applies to all atheists, because karl marx was an atheist himself.

Being non-religious just means that you don't belong to any particular religion. However, that doesn't mean that you're an atheist by default. So I'm guessing that some people cannot even tell the difference between theism, and religion, because they're not one, and the same.

There are plenty of irreligious theists(not deists) here in the US. So, therefore, this should've debunked this whole entire claim that being irreligious makes you an "atheist", though.

[HistoryTeacherish]

It seems to me that French Laicite (a version of secularism) is a religion regardless of what George Holyoake cooked up for a definition. When separation of Church and State is based in indifference to religion (the American model), you might be able to claim that the nation operates from a healthy secularism, but where it dictates terms from state to church, as France does in its burkini ban, it's an unhealthy secularism and yes, it is still secularism, but contrived as an opposing religion. I don't think you can put the term in a shrine and exclude what always happens over time when people claim the glories of secularism and fall away from religious traditions.

[Hockeyluke]

What program do you use to edit your videos? They always look so clean and seamless dude

[amberknight]

Secular bunny rabbits.
The best bunny rabbits around XD.

[rogersyversen]

what if the religion does not believe in seperation of church and state? we can call it "fundamentalist" as much as we want, but they themselves do not see themselves as fundamentalist.

[subliminalking.]

that's why world we are living is godless.

[Chrisplumbgas]

We got a problem. Every single person carries around, and lives out their life, including politically, through the lens of their current worldview, which they believe. It’s innate, and it’s going everywhere, every-time, including political office.

[ArcFoundationDirector]

⚡️ Secularism/Ignoritism a Religion/Ideology it is.

[obarich]

1:52 So people actually want to wear something to express religion rather than wear safety

[alshaw]

Secular or secularism if trudefinition could only be seen and explained and futuristic events as it unfolds

[lucasacevedo]

Do you think you could do a video on monopolies and other forms of market control?

[rishav]

very true ...a person can never be a secular person or non secular person because the secular term is only for the organisation.

[MainulWasTaken]

I can see the agenda in this video promoting secularism in altered way

[LlyleHunter]

Secularism = disestablishmentarianism if that makes defining it easier. In other words a disestablishmentarianist or secularist is someone who believes in the establishment clause.

[lmz_official_YT]

1 min silent for those who came to watch after watching many videos of secularism 😆

[kjokjojessica]

Thanks. I finally have a word for what I am without having to use atheist or agnostic.

[jamesvignali]

Secularist believe the State is the Ultimate Authority. People that believe in God believe God is the Ultimate Authority. Simple difference. Easy to understand.