Secularism is the belief that religion should not interfere with or be integrated into the public affairs of a society. Oxford dictionary defines "secular" as "concerned with the affairs of the world, not religious or spiritual" so in this sense all civil government is "secular". The only civil governments that are not fully secular in this sense are Vatican City and some fundamentalist Moslem states. The governments of all the major countries in the world – including Australia, the USA, Great Britain, New Zealand, Italy, India, etc are all secular governments. There are multiple factors which have contributed to the decline of religion's relevance for the integration and legitimation of modern life. The increasing pluralism and materialism of society alongside society's increasing individualism and dissatisfaction with traditional religions are major reasons for secularisation.…
Since the beginning of mankind, man has sought some form of a higher entity and a basis for humanity. Since the beginning, it has always been important to find a greater purpose for human life--to discover life’s meaning. Naturally, due to cultural differences, incongruities arose in man’s interpretation of how best to live and how best to be faithful, and eventually man focused more on those differences rather than the similar theme that was emphasized in each of the Holy Books: to love our neighbors and to love God, or whatever higher entity we chose to worship (Interview). As time progressed, these differences in opinion began to become forms of identification, and man began to use faith and religion to distinguish themselves from one another.…
Humanism influenced people during the Renaissance in at least two ways such as anatomy and astronomy. Anatomy and astronomy had greatly changed during the Renaissance period. They had discovered that the Earth was not the center of the universe,but the church kept teaching that it was the center. They also dissected the human body to find out about it.…
All across the continent of Europe, darkness and death greets every living soul. The Bubonic Plague has obliterated over a third of the population in less than a five year period. The Middle Ages had been ongoing in Europe for nearly a thousand years, and original Greek and Roman culture had been forgotten. All had seemed hopeless for the life of an average European. Suddenly, at around 1350 A.D in Italy, a major shift in history caused Europe to spring into a Modern Era. This period in history is known as the Renaissance, or rebirth in learning. Humanism was a new concept that was focused on during this period, or the focus on the individual and that humans are creative. This period began with the Italian Renaissance and later spread into…
Religion is affecting Schools, courts, politics, and communities. It is influencing the way people live their life in many ways. It spreads and is introduce in many forms. For centuries, many people have found comfort in Religion. However, I believe that in terms of comfort secularism and science has more to offer because religion is viral and harmful.…
Following the end of the Middle Ages, the Renaissance was born in the 14th century and existed until the 17th century. This period in time began as a movement in Italy and later spread through to the rest of Europe. The Renaissance was considered to be based on the concept of Humanism. This philosophy emphasised on the self-worth, attributes, dignity, abilities and creativity of humans. Humanists found this idea far more appealing than to focus on the Church and expect little comfort in life on Earth. The decline and rejection of the ideas of the Church are the primary reasons for the increase in the popularity of Humanism. Influenced by scholars, this dramatic change and explosion of renewed ideas occurred as they revisited the thoughts of…
Johnson explains that secularism, “Helped shake off the shackles of religion and created the modern world.”18 He then proceeded to explain the errors within secular thought. He writes that, “Secularism is destructive for three reasons. First, it cuts off the elite from the common people…Second, secularism invents its own meaning for life….[and] Finally, secularism has trouble self-correcting once it does a bad thing, because there is no universally admired secular standard a secularist can appeal to.”19 In essence this way of thinking not coherent with the belief that morality comes within. There is no absolute truth and therefore there is no basis for determining what is moral and what isn’t. Social problems are dealt with on the grounds of human reason and not upon supernatural laws. Because of this the system slowly starts to break down as individuals continue to establish for themselves there own purpose for living, if they admit there even is one. Once again there appears to be a division between the starting point and the end result. Haught writes that, “Evolutionary insights into the story of how morality emerged in natural history may not be wrong as far as they go, but they do not work well if taken as adequate or final…
The Question of Morality-The Secular Humanism’s morality first start with the value in themselves. They feel they have to value their lives before the can anyone or anything else. They then value the ones around them; spouses, friends, and family. After the ones closest to them, next comes their tribes/community. They then have duties towards their state and countries. (The Modern Rationalist, June 2011)…
The secular humanistic worldview says that mankind has no reason for existence. They were randomly created by evolution. Their only purpose is one that they have created for themselves.…
Christian humanism has its roots in the traditional teaching that humans are made in the image of God (Latin Imago Dei) which is the basis of individual worth and personal dignity. This found strong biblical expression in the Judeo-Christian attention to righteousness and social justice. Its linkage to more secular philosophical humanism can be traced to the 2nd-century, writings of Justin Martyr, an early theologian-apologist of the early Christian Church. While far from radical, Justin in his Apology finds value in the achievements of classical culture .[2] Influential letters by Cappadocian Fathers, namely Basil of Caesarea and Gregory of Nyssa, confirmed the commitment to using preexisting secular knowledge, particularly as…
“Secular humanism does bear on the key aspects of one's life. It shapes our moral values. It also influences our sense of meaning and identity. It does so, however, not by dictating what we should think or what we should do but by providing the means for us to decide for ourselves what we find fulfilling and to create our own identity” (Belief net).” "I am a creature who descended from a determined bit of blue-green algae, or some such”( Council For Secular Humanism)…
The myth of the golden age of religion- we usually compare membership levels from now to what they used to be but Martin highlights those figures from the past are miss leading as lots of people attended church as it was sometimes the law to attend church and it was socially unacceptable not to go to church and therefore the figures are invalid.…
“...the ongoing, growing, and powerful movement called secularism, a way of understanding and living that is indifferent to religion -- in fact, not even concerned enough to pay it any attention, much less oppose it.”…
Throughout history, religion has been a major part of almost every civilization that has existed. Religious beliefs have always served as an explanation for phenomena that were otherwise inexplicable. This dependence on religion to explain the unexplainable made people very reliant on whatever religion they subscribed to. However, as time has gone on and the societies of the world has progressed, traditional religion has taken somewhat of a backseat in the lives of many people in the world. In the present society, modern religion is often interpreted on a very individual basis, and can frequently exclude any actual deity or religion. For example, cultural icons such as Oprah Winfrey and Beyoncé have evolved from being simply pop culture figures…
In today’s society, many of our decisions are guided by forces such as employment, social needs, self-sufficiency and moral obligations, such as the church. Over the past century we have seen a dramatic shift in which these needs or forces have taken precedence over one another. Nowadays, greed and social protocols tend to run our daily lives where moral dependency and faith have lost significance. As the world develops, where technology and processes are growing at an alarming rate the need for religion both socially and morally may be lost. It seems although even people who call themselves religious or claim to have a religious structure still do not fully understand and truly grasp the teaching or ideology behind the church. The declining religious society and the loss of religious authority can be defined as secularization. A secular society is a shift away from religious meaning where politics and religion is separate. We found that the western world has become secular due to three major forces, modernization, capitalism and the reduction in religious authority. Citizens in the west have a much higher chance of having their opinion be altered due to what the media is delivering through their messages. Capitalism has altered the way people live and think. The significance of money has never been as substantial as what it currently is; people place a great emphasis on making money and bettering themselves. The reduction in religious authority plays an integral role in the west’s evolution to becoming mainly…