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The notion of “Secularism” 1

  “… to unite in a permanent religious institution which is not to be
subject to doubt before the public – that is absolutely forbidden.”
  (Immanuel Kant)

Secularism
Secularism is a concept, a modern political and constitutional principle, a worldview and a set of mind. Secularism in one of its senses advocates religious liberty and the separation of state and religion. In another sense it refers to a belief that human actions and decisions, especially in the political domain, should be based on reason and common sense rather than religious beliefs and influence. Secularism is one of the fundamental components of a liberal democracy and a precondition for the flourishing of human rights. Secularism encompasses more than the traditional distinction between public affairs (state) and religion. It includes divorcing private morality and religion from one another. Something else would be inconceivable in a free society.
It demands tolerance and the rejection of any kind of discrimination based on religious beliefs. It demands freedom, the freedom to shape one’s life in accordance with one’s own beliefs, and privacy, the private sphere in which the individual can flourish. Secularism also demands that women cannot be excluded from education and the political and public spheres and cannot be subjugated to arbitrarily defined ‘human rights’ regimes granted by an untouchable divine law that serves to cement patriarchal systems of rule. An important measure of how secular a society is may be found in the answer to the following question: can a member of one religious group marry a member of another without sanctions?

Origins
Throughout the centuries the struggle for liberalism and individual rights is very much interlinked with the struggle for a secular worldview. The origins of secularism can be traced back to the Enlightenment (the “Age of Reason”) and the tradition of natural law. The Enlightenment, by recognizing human freedom as one of its main concerns, sought to reduce the influence of religious law and the church over society and to enable the peaceful coexistence of people with different beliefs.2 The Enlightenment paved the way to modern science and the critical principles of scientific enquiry that characterise modern science. It saw the rise of modern ethics and, in particular, the notion of natural rights. The concept of natural law accepted that human beings were separate individuals capable of independent thought. It accepted that individuals were able to make rational decisions in their best interests. It was during the Enlightenment that the belief in a rational and secular justification of individual rights and the belief that an ideal social order is based on a contract between persons who are fundamentally equal became widespread in western political thought. The idea of individual (natural) rights is the product of reason and, as such, directly accessible to each and every human being.
The principle of separation of religion and state can be thus seen as an outcome of secular thinking based on reason and rooted in the Enlightenment.
It is worth noting that the Lockean approach to religious liberty also played a significant role in the emergence and acceptance of the principle of separation between state and religion, between the public and religious spheres. In former times it had been assumed that religious beliefs required state implementation and protection and that political stability depended upon religious and cultural homogeneity. Locke’s writings on the subject represented a dramatic departure from traditional views. He argued that state coercion is ineffective in the domain of religion: the state cannot force a person to seek a particular path to salvation or to “heaven.”3 One should be free to embrace or reject any particular belief. Otherwise there will be no progress or freedom. According to Locke, respect for freedom of choice in religious matters is a source of both legitimacy and stability for political regimes. Locke’s plea for religious tolerance and liberty deeply influenced Thomas Jefferson and the drafting of the US Constitution. The First Amendment enshrines the principle of separation of state and church and cements the idea that there is a “wall of separation” between the two.
Secularism, apart from the above, also implies the acceptance of free discussion and, specifically, free discourse on religion without fear of discrimination, coercion and torture.

The concept of separation of state and religion
The separation of state and church and, indeed, any kind of religious institution is an indispensable and core element of liberalism and liberal democracy. Since liberal democracies are above all committed to the preservation of liberty and equality, the separation of religion and state is a basic requirement for maintaining these fundamental ends. For government this entails toleration, impartiality and neutrality at the very least.4 Toleration requires that the state must guarantee religious liberty to its citizens, ie, the freedom of religious belief, freedom of worship and freedom to engage in the practices and rituals of one’s religion – within the limits of the rule of law! Impartiality requires that the state must not give preference to one religion over another and rejection of practices such as legally requiring a certain religious affiliation as a condition for public office. Where a state prefers a given religion it is likely that certain laws will reflect the worldview associated with that religion.
Impartiality is a prerequisite for the rule of law. Rule of law guarantees that the law is impartial, it is not based on any religious dogmas and that all citizens are equal before the law regardless of their beliefs.
Neutrality requires that the state must neither favour nor disfavour religion as such. Neutrality also precludes favouritism vis-à-vis different religions and also believers and non-believers. It follows from the principle of impartiality.
Furthermore, the separation of state and religion encompasses not only the requirement that state must not interfere in religion and religious affairs but also that the church must not interfere in government. The church may campaign and influence, as any interest group does, but it cannot decide and use government to do so on its behalf.

Laicité
The term laicité is related to that of secularism connotes the strong separation of church and state that has evolved in France since the French Revolution. To understand the meaning of this term we must consider the different historical settings in which separation of state and religion developed in France on the one hand and countries of Protestant culture on the other. In Protestant countries religion was never completely divorced from progress, the development of natural rights and the emergence of modernity. In France, on the other hand, modernity involved taking a radical stand against religion and, in particular, the Catholic Church. Whereas the British Enlightenment sought an “enlightened religion”, the French Enlightenment sought more.5 Laicité – ‘laicism’ or ‘laicity’ in English (although some say that these words do not capture the exact meaning of the original) – means a strict division of the private sphere, to which religion belongs, and the public sphere. There is a total absence of any official religion or references thereto in matters of state and in public institutions. Incidentally, it also means the absence of state atheism and the imposition thereof in the public sphere. Seen in historical perspective, laicité explains why new institutions developed during the course of the 19th century – schools, for instance – were structured outside the constraints of religion. Even morality, as an inherent element of social relations, was considered a matter outside the domain of religion. From the perspective of the state and public institutions morality a-religious – neither founded upon religious tenets nor hostile towards religion.
Both secularism and laicité see a state as being neutral towards religion (it is not atheistic!), refusing to give preference to any creed, treating believers and non-believers alike, and guaranteeing freedom of religion to all. In contrast to laicistic states, however, some secular states may give a special position to a particular religion of group of religions (as in the United Kingdom and Germany), but this is only of symbolic importance and does not affect the ordinary life and the equal rights of its citizens.
The biggest difference between the concepts of secularism and laicité is the following: secularism demands a separation of religion and state in the public sphere whereas laicité excludes religion from the public sphere.

Secular humanism
Secularism is also an essential element of what is termed “secular humanism.” It is a life stance, a philosophy – some would say a political ideology – that, apart from advocating the separation of church and state, encompasses a broader dedication to the centrality of reason and a system of ethics and justice based on reason. The commitment to reason goes hand in hand with a commitment to free inquiry and free thought, to protect the freedom of the individual and to defend democracy. Reason cannot flourish under other conditions. Basic civil liberties, a free press and academic and scientific freedom are integral to its pursuit. Secular humanism recognizes the central role of morality and ethics in human life but its proponents believe that its principles can be formulated independently of revealed religion. It places trust in human intelligence rather than in divine guidance.6 Secular humanism accepts the importance of religious experience but distrusts traditional views of God and divinity.

The understanding of Secularism in our seminar
For the purpose of our seminar entitled “Liberalism and the Secular State” we understand secularism to be a liberal approach to politics, law, society and science. It is based on reason and common sense. It must be emphasized again that there is no liberal democracy without the principle of secularism. It is this principle that ensures the distinction between public affairs and religion. It demands tolerance and the rejection of any kind of discrimination. It demands freedom to shape one’s life in accordance with one’s own beliefs. Secularism provides for an open society, ensures that people are free to enter or leave any particular religion and to freely discuss religion without fear.
As such the principle of secularism is an indispensable and core element of liberalism.
We have seen that the struggle for democracy and liberalism coincided with a struggle for a secular worldview based on the belief that individuals were capable of reason and conducting their own affairs in their best interest. In order to do this, individuals require rights, for instance freedom of thought and religion, freedom of expression, academic freedom, scientific freedom and many other rights.
Secularism is the precondition of an independent legal system. A religious court, being partial to a particular religion and its rules, cannot ensure equality under the law. Hence secularism is an inseparable element of the rule of law. Secularism together with the principle of rule of law guarantees that rights apply to all individuals equally and take precedence over religious laws and dogmas.
The separation of religion and state ensures that the state protects the rights of its all citizens. The state is there for all without discrimination whereas religion is there only for those who subscribe to its tenets.
Centuries ago Thomas Paine observed the following:
 The adulterous connection of church and state, wherever it has taken
place, whether Jewish, Christian or Turkish (Muslim), has so
effectually prohibited by pains and penalties every discussion upon
established creeds, and upon first principles of religion, that until the
system of government should be changed, those subjects could not be
brought fairly and openly before the world”
How much this reflects the problems we face today!
1Text: Enikö Gál in cooperation with Stefan Melnik
2Katarina Dalacoura: Islam, Liberalism and Human Rights, I.B. Tauris 2003, 6-39.
3W. Cole Durham, Jr.: Perspectives on religious liberty : a comparative framework, in: J.D. van der Vyver and J. Witte (eds.), Religious Human Rights in Global Perspective. Kluver Law International, 1996, Netherlands. 1-44.
4The separation of state and church based on these principles is described in details in: Robert Audi: Religious Commitment and Secular Reason, Cambridge University Press, 2000. 31-59.
5See: Jean Baubérot: The Place of religion in Public Life: The Lay Approach, in: Facilitating freedom of religion or belief, T. Lindholm, W.C. Durham, Jr., B. G. Tahzib-Lie (eds.), Brill, Martinus Nijhoff, 2004, 441-453.
6See: Secular Humanist Declaration issued by the Council for Secular Humanism in 1980, accessed at: www.secularhumanism.org; see also: Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopaedia, entry on „Secular Humanism”