Indian Secularism: a Theological Response
1. INTRODUCTION
For many years religion has been a dominant force in all human societies, embracing all aspects of human life. The world was sought to be understood and explained in terms of religion. It was with the path breaking discovers in the world of physical sciences and as well as the social movements like the reformation and the renaissance that broke away the domination of religion in the middle Ages. Thus there was a gradual process by which the church and state began to be separated in the west. The first foundation of secularism began to be laid with this separation. Secularism appeared as an opponent to Christianity but in course of time, it was identified as a way of life and an interpretation of life that did not admit any kind of communal prejudice. But by and by, the secular attitudes became necessary for a modern rational society. Secularism has been a critically important development in the modern world. In India, secularism attains an added significance because of the fact that Indians have been deeply wedded to religious consideration in the past and is hardly devoid of such consideration even today. It is because of the fact that the India represents a multiplicity of socio-communal groups. Secularism is the spirit which enlightens the constitution of India. But the incorporation of secularism in India and especially into the constitution was itself the culmination of a historical process, which is the key to understand our present day secularism. Therefore one must find out the foundations on which the whole structure of Indian secularism has been raised. My seminar paper is attempt to analyse the historical back ground of the origin Indian secularism, its developments, threats that Indian secularism faces and a theological response to Indian secularism.
2. SECULARISM; DEFINITION AND ITS MEANING The term secularism was created in 1846 by George Jacob Holyoake in order to describe "a form of opinion which concerns itself only with
For many years religion has been a dominant force in all human societies, embracing all aspects of human life. The world was sought to be understood and explained in terms of religion. It was with the path breaking discovers in the world of physical sciences and as well as the social movements like the reformation and the renaissance that broke away the domination of religion in the middle Ages. Thus there was a gradual process by which the church and state began to be separated in the west. The first foundation of secularism began to be laid with this separation. Secularism appeared as an opponent to Christianity but in course of time, it was identified as a way of life and an interpretation of life that did not admit any kind of communal prejudice. But by and by, the secular attitudes became necessary for a modern rational society. Secularism has been a critically important development in the modern world. In India, secularism attains an added significance because of the fact that Indians have been deeply wedded to religious consideration in the past and is hardly devoid of such consideration even today. It is because of the fact that the India represents a multiplicity of socio-communal groups. Secularism is the spirit which enlightens the constitution of India. But the incorporation of secularism in India and especially into the constitution was itself the culmination of a historical process, which is the key to understand our present day secularism. Therefore one must find out the foundations on which the whole structure of Indian secularism has been raised. My seminar paper is attempt to analyse the historical back ground of the origin Indian secularism, its developments, threats that Indian secularism faces and a theological response to Indian secularism.
2. SECULARISM; DEFINITION AND ITS MEANING The term secularism was created in 1846 by George Jacob Holyoake in order to describe "a form of opinion which concerns itself only with
Bibliography: 1. Goyal, Raju. Secularism and Indian thought. Ritu Publishers, Delhi, 2000. 2. Kalliath, Antony and Irudaya, Raj., ed. Indian Secularism: A Theological Response. Indian Theological Association,2010. 3. Khan, Kamaluddin. Secularism in India: A Brief Study. Patna University press, 2006. 4. Marbaniang, Domenic. Secularism in India: A Historical Outline, 2005. 5. Tejani, Shabnum. Indian secularism; A Social and Intellectual History. Permanent Black Press, Ranikhet, 2007. 6. Secularism in India accessed on 9 January 2012; available from www.civilserviceindia.com. 7. Secularism accessed on 10 December 2012; available from w.w.w. Wikipedia.com.