Secularism

Author: Jaklan Habib

Source: http://worldtheology-jaklan.blogspot.com/2011/02/secularism.html

Secularism, was first used by George Holyoake in 1846, is one of the most important intellectual revolutions in the history of medieval Europe. From its birth, secularism starts its journey with a view that state will be separated from religious affiliation. Another important nature of secularism is that religion is only individual affair and in worldly affairs religion have no role to control or lead human life. It mainly aroused to fight against Christian blasphemy laws. Great secularist scholar George Holyoake argues that : Secularism is a code of duty pertaining to this life founded on considerations purely human, and intended mainly for those who find theology indefinite or inadequate, unreliable or unbelievable (English Secularism, 35). In later he explain it as: Secularism is that which seeks the development of the physical, moral, and intellectual nature of man to the highest possible point, as the immediate duty of life — which inculcates the practical sufficiency of natural morality apart from Atheism, Theism or the Bible — which selects as its methods of procedure the promotion of human improvement by material means, and proposes these positive agreements as the common bond of union, to all who would regulate life by reason and ennoble it by service" (Principles of Secularism, 17). Secularism never denies religion but it denies the necessity and importance of religion in human life. In to-day’s trend term secularism is ascribed upon all where have no religious-spiritual code.

In a general way, we define secularism as a belief in the fulfillment of life in this world through material instrument, a belief in natural causation that there is a cause behind every event of nature located in natural laws, recognition of reason, free inquisition and conduct experiment as intermediary of human vocation, inviolability of each person irrespective of accidents of birth and inherent human rights to freedom and autonomy. Thus, worldliness, rationalism, scientism and humanism are the basic tenets of Secularism (Monirujjaman, Talukdar., Politics and Security of Bangladesh). The first and possibly most common perceptive of secular today stand in against to religious. According to this tradition, something is secular while it can be labeled with the worldly, civil and non-religious sphere of human life. Secular is evaluated against with anything that is regarded as holy, sacred, and inviolable. According to this formula something is secular when it is not worshipped, when it is not venerated, and secular idea is open for critique, judgment, and replacement. Since every man has absolute right to freedom of choice he could be as religious as he liked, but his religion would be his individual concern; he would not claim that others agree with him. The functions and opinion in support of secularism vary widely. In European laicism, it has been argued that secularism is an intellectual movement toward modernization of human society, and away from traditional religious values.

The development of secular movement has been in progress through the entire course of modern phase. Secularism came as an ultimate result of series of revolutionary brain and social renovation. The renaissance, reformation, enlightenment movement, industrialist revolution, democratic socialist theories- all these operate as a collective way to create a secularist ideology through rationalism and worldliness.

Secularism has much more impact on religion. A well established form of secular view about religion is that religion is only individual and spiritual concern and all the worldly affairs that human behavior, government so on will be treated from rational view where religion is unbearable and unacceptable. Western media used secularism as a tool of cultural aggression. On the name of globalization in this open cultural market weaker filtered into stronger cultural box and be mixed up. Through this nation lose its culture and religion loses its value. In this context Christianity is a burning example. Bible refers that Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and unto God the things that are God’s (Matthew 22:21). Talcott Parsons had written in Christianity (International Encyclopedia of the social sciences) that “It is also claim that Christianity itself, to some context, helped develop this (secularism) crucial social and intellectual transformation in modern society. Two aspects of Christianity are thought particularly conducive to the growth of secularism. These are (1) the Christian doctrine of two swords (Ceasar and God) and (2) the Christian view of human history as only an interim one between revelation and final fulfillment in the world beyond (Monirujjaman, Talukdar., Politics and Security of Bangladesh).

In the case of contradiction between religion and secularism almost all the religion excluding Islam and Sikhism implicitly or explicitly permit secularism and they drive out their religious belief from worldly affairs. It is interesting that two religions, Buddhism and Jainism, have no problem to go with secularism because alike secularism those two religion deal with human worldly affair. Though they have concept of mokkha but it does not make any problem for secularism. Hinduism, a container of tradition and rites, also accept it without hesitation but Abrahamic religion, Islam, strongly oppose it. A practicing Muslim never allow secularism if he or she truly believe in Allah. In Islam, Allah are the supreme authority of all and as His creature we, human beings, are His representatives in this world and here we are only to serve His order. As a student of religion I think that religion is nothing more than belief and belief is valueless without practice. So practice is the largest part of religion. As a Muslim when we believe that we are the servant of Almighty Allah than it’s our moral duty to serve Him and follow His command.

Secularism is less a culture or a way of life than an anti-culture and antagonism to an existing way of life or spirituality. It exists only to oppose theism and spirituality. Nevertheless its strongest supporters consider it to be a culture and themselves to be cultured. Secularism ruined the moral position of man. It freed us from accountability. General intention of secularism is to interpret all of life by purely naturalistic explanations as compared to the theological explanation of sacred religion. Surely last century had seen a gradual shift in man’s thinking from theological explanations to the purely scientific interpretation. Through which men become apart from religious texts and its moral teachings and expose religion as a valueless ideology. Once we lived in the fear of all-seeing Allah, Who is almighty and we felt His presence in every step of our life. We were in a sense of a powerful Being, which observing us leads all to be moral and create a sense of accountability. But secular concept of human life, the improvement of this life by material means, loose accountability and rise of criminality as its consequence.

The fundamentals of secularism are the improvement of this life by material means, that science is the available Providence of man, which it is good to do good "Whether there be other good or not, the good of the present life is good, and it is good to seek that good (English Secularism, 35). They prefer science to prove or explain anything and discourage religious practice. To them religion create obstacle in humanity and it is backdated in modern world. From the very beginning, secular movement has gotten mass people as their supporter because of extreme oppression of Christian church in medieval Europe. The consequence of religious fanaticism from medieval age till this present age helped the secularist to improve and established their ideology as a code of life against religious order.  Someone looks the secularism as the way of globalization which breaks the limitation of culture and mixed it up with another one and culture lost it unique point. Although secularism can definitely be understood as simply the absence of religion, it is also often treated as a philosophical structure with personal, political, cultural, and social implications.

When secularism was treated as a absence of religion in Western society, in India it take a new shape, Indian constitution define secularism as dhormo niropekkhaota and religious freedom.  Article 15 of Indian constitution declares that freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion, article 25, freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion, and article 26, freedom to manage religious affairs. Even so, India recognizes laws based on religion. Hindus, Muslims, and Christians are governed by their own religious laws. Thus, India does not really fit into any text book or scholarly definition of Secularism. It has, in fact, created its own brand of Secularism. In Bangladesh, President Seikh Mujibur Rahman had declared secularism as one of the principles of the state that drove the Bengali nationalist movement and Bangladesh Liberation war. After the assassination of Mujib in 1975, Military rulers include Islam instead of secularism as the principle of democratic state. I am not here to debate about religion and secularism but it is important to note that Islam is not only a religion which seeks happiness in afterlife it also deliver solution about worldly happy life.

In conclusion, I may put forward a question, is secularism a solution for world peace? Answer could be that a man who have enough money, power and opportunity and strongest to occupy something illegally then what will prevent him from his or her desire. In a secular society the most effective tool to prevent such is quite absence that is accountability, accountability with awe. Only religion can offer such situation where people think then understand about their position and hold a fear of All-Seeing God. Only then a society of accountability is possible to establish.