Secularism is the principle of
keeping government and legislation separate from religion. I a secular system,
political decisions are more or less independent religious belief. Those who
want can be free from religious rule.
Most western democracies are in practice
secular. In secular systems freedom of speech, including the right to make blasphemic
statements and religious freedom are important principles.
Only secular systems give religious
freedom. With religious rule all religions except one (the one that rules) are repressed,
more or less. That’s an interesting paradox, I think.
As a woman, I am totally disinterested in living in a country under religious rule since just about every religion in the world suppresses and discriminates again women.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't live under religious rule either. I have a couple of friends from Iran who took great efforts to escape from it, and ended up in Winterland >:)
DeleteI find the fight for gay marriage in the US interesting because the people who don't like the idea are upset because of their religious ideas about marriage. But the US is secular, right?
ReplyDeleteYes, the US has been secular from the very beginning. Secular states have secular constitutions. However, still there may be religious forces that try to influence legislation, e.g. regarding gay marriage. This happens in many countries. Turkey is a secular Islamic sata (i.e. most of the citizens are Muslims), but with President Erdogan it moves in the wrong direction, towards more religious influence on politics
DeleteThe modern governments need (or pretend at least) to be politically correct; the religions just preach their "truth". They can't afford such luxury item as being open minded. However, God probably is more open than any of us...
ReplyDeleteI suspect that God is more open-minded than many of His scholars. And Jesus was a pretty cool guy, I think. But I don't believe he's God >:)
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