What is Secularism ? Explained

Sec­u­lar­ism entails respect for all reli­gions and ways of life, because reli­gion is ulti­mate­ly a way of life. Sec­u­lar­ism is not a sin­gle phi­los­o­phy; rather, it is a broad­er out­look on life and ways of liv­ing that has been inter­pret­ed dif­fer­ent­ly in dif­fer­ent loca­tions and periods.

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This is a way of think­ing depen­dent on human and vote based qual­i­ties that look to accom­plish cor­re­spon­dence, equi­ty, and oppor­tu­ni­ty and attempt to elim­i­nate seg­re­ga­tion, dou­ble-deal­ing, and con­trol inside and out­side the social and shared gatherings.

Sec­u­lar­ism

Sec­u­lar­ism is a phi­los­o­phy that is con­cerned with the rela­tion­ship between state and religion. 

Sec­u­lar­ists think that reli­gion is a per­son­al mat­ter of a per­son, the state has noth­ing to do with religion.

Hence it should nei­ther patron­ize any par­tic­u­lar reli­gion nor it should dis­crim­i­nate against any religion. 

A man should be left free to pro­fess and prac­tice any reli­gion of his or her choice. Sec­u­lar­ism does not mean to be irre­li­gious or anti religiousness.

Sec­u­lar­ism is State has no reli­gion of its own.

No, dis­crim­i­na­tion among the peo­ple on the basis of religion.

Every cit­i­zen is equal before law.

Every cit­i­zen enjoys free­dom to reside with free­dom and dig­ni­ty in any part of country.

In India, sec­u­lar­ism oppos­es all kinds of inter-reli­gious dom­i­na­tion and insti­tu­tion­al­ized reli­gious domination.

A sec­u­lar state must be com­mit­ted to the prin­ci­ple and goals of peace, reli­gious free­dom, free­dom from reli­gious oppres­sions, dis­crim­i­na­tion and exclu­sion of mier reli­gious and intra-reli­gious equality.

The term ‘sec­u­lar’ pro­mot­er equal respect for all reli­gions to devel­op such type of feelings.

Sec­u­lar­ism denotes the sep­a­ra­tion of the state and reli­gion to pro­vide a the­o­ry of life and con­duct against one pro­vid­ed by religion. 

Secular State

India is a sec­u­lar state as con­ceived by the archi­tect of modem India, Pt. Jawa­har Lai Nehru. India does not have any state reli­gion but sup­ports all the religions. 

Sec­u­lar state must be com­mit­ted to prin­ci­ples and goals to be derived from non-reli­gions sources includ­ing peace, reli­gious free­dom, free­dom from dis­crim­i­na­tion and inter-reli­gious and intra-reli­gious equality.

Sec­u­lar states are nei­ther theo­crat­ic nor estab­lish a religion. 

Sep­a­ra­tion of reli­gion and state is a mutu­al exclu­sion not to inter­fere in the affairs of reli­gion and as well reli­gion will not inter­fere in the affairs of state.

The state can­not aid any reli­gious insti­tu­tion or pro­vide any finan­cial sup­port to reli­gious com­mu­ni­ties as well as it can­not hin­der the activ­i­ties of reli­gious com­mu­ni­ties which are with­in the broad lim­its set by law of land. 

Sec­u­lar­ism is not a sim­ple sep­a­ra­tion of pol­i­tics and reli­gion, it is some­thing humane, demo­c­ra­t­ic, and nat­ur­al con­cept based on broad philosophy. 

Its pur­pose is to remove the inequal­i­ties, dom­i­na­tion and dis­crim­i­na­tion, and exploita­tion in inter and inter-reli­gious and social groups. 

Sec­u­lar­ism is the most pow­er­ful phi­los­o­phy which oppos­es all forms of undue domination. 

It seeks to pro­mote jus­tice and equal­i­ty by human­iz­ing and edu­cat­ing and enlight­en­ing society.

The state should not patron­ize any religion.

The state should not dis­crim­i­nate against any religion.

The state should pro­mote equal­i­ty and jus­tice with­in and with­out the social and reli­gious groups.

Sec­u­lar­ism is a phi­los­o­phy that is con­cerned with the rela­tion­ship between state and religion. 

Sec­u­lar­ists think that reli­gion is a per­son­al mat­ter of a per­son, the state has noth­ing to do with religion. 

Western Secularism

Strict non-inter­fer­ence of reli­gion and state in each other’s affairs. 

Equal­i­ty between dif­fer­ent reli­gious groups is a key concern.

Indi­vid­ual and his rights at the centre. 

Atten­tion to minor­i­ty rights. 

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