Religion and Secularism - Essay Example

Religion and Secularism Secularism is one of the most significant movements of the modern West and its definition demands the understanding of Religion. However, secularism helped west to differentiate itself from other cultural religions in the World thus resulting in an opinion in the World that the religion of West is secular. In one sense Secularism is understood as the case of absence of religion and in other sense as treating all religions equally. Thus, it is difficult enough to define secularism according to a single ideal and social, political and cultural conditions define the secularism in a particular context and area. The afore-mentioned aspect points out the origins of secularism from religion. As one of the concepts in understanding secularism is to oppose the religion in at least until some extent, the concept developed from religious context. Though the secularism has origins in religion, it is a political and social movement and retains a philosophical aspect. In many contexts, the philosophy is to oppose religion and this resulted in different type of applications of it in different situations. However, in any type of understanding the secularism a common opposition to supernatural and faith in god will exist. The concept of secularism and secularization differ as the secularization questions the role of religion in society and argues for sphere of knowledge. Thus in the course of questioning the religion, secularization opposes the presence of religious authorities and opposes their public authority. As a result, it catches criticism from the opponents of secularism or religious minded people. One of the important opposition is regarding favoring of explicitly basis for politics at the cost of another religion, which generally happens in developing countries like India, Pakistan and Gulf countries. However, the afore-mentioned aspect is different from godless secularism of West. In the multicultural societies, religious tolerance is termed as secularism by religious people and political leaders.1 Review of Documentary While considering the afore-mentioned countries, the favor and opposition for secularism exists at same area and region. The afore-mentioned fact is evident from review of documentary that follows. According to Sir Mark Tully who toured in Gujarat and Kerala in India for a documentary in secularism opines that religion should have a place in politics as well as secularism to avoid the politicians to make use of different incidents for their selfish purposes. He cites the Gandhi’s (Father of Nation of India) words that religion should pervade politics. 2 However, many politicians are unsure about what and how the religion pervades through politics. One can argue that the militant organizations of all religious organizations should not find place in politics but all the religions should be given their chance to pride in their own religion and freedom to follow it as long as they do not harm or obstruct other’s feelings. However, not all the religious people are united and they assert that the essence of secularism lies in understanding the value people give for religion. The failure of secularism to be popular lies in afore-mentioned value of people to their religion. Politicians in countries like India better understood that value. 3 The meaning and understanding of secularism in West is to disassociate church from administration. However, it is not completely possible in multi-cultural societies and west too may experience the same difficulty when their societies turn multi-cultural and multi religion. Thus, many politicians and thinkers opine that age-old tradition of religious tolerance is better in understanding secularism in multi cultural and multi religion societies. Religion and Secularism In the absence of multi cultural and multi religion societies, religion is supposed to be elusive and short-lived. While discussing about authoritarian and liberal nature it depends on understanding either religion or secularism and implementing it. Religious societies will be authoritarian when the people at the helm use sacred, charisma and supernatural aspects to capture religion. The authoritarian nature of religion is due to the least understanding of it. As a result, the religion when institutionalized may result in authoritarian administration. Fenn Richard (2001) cites Weber’s argument that despise, routine and mundane activities degrade the religion and other types of institutions take its place. In that process, the secularization of the society takes place to separate religion from the administration. However, secularism is not liberal when it destroys the distinction between sacred and sacrilegious. Removing difference between sacred and sacrilegious makes secularism an insane activity instead of being liberal. Either religion or secularism should explain the complexity of social life and must allow the fluidity in the social life. As a result, the society will be open to renegotiation and change. However, even in that change and renegotiation, secularism can pervade resulting in a further change that takes institution and society away from the religious foundations. In that sense, as any society turns complex, there is more space for secularization and a feeling that religion is authoritarian. 4 Though the secularism helps when society turns complex, the erosion of gap between sacred and sacrilegious may result in self-indulgence. Secularization looses liberalism and rationalistic attitude when the rituals in the religion, which preach benevolent principles, are used as games in a complex society. The rationality in secularism is denying the supernatural power or authority. It does not mean that the afore-mentioned essence of secularism should result in self-indulgence. When religion as an institution stresses too much on idols and rituals it looses its omnipresent nature and rationality takes recourse under secularism and openness. In this course, sacredness may suffer a setback but as long as sacred and sacrilegious are distinct in secularism, it is rational and open. However, in secular institutions sacred is synonymous to secrecy but the institution must not consider that secrecy and sacred are synonymous. As long as the afore-mentioned aspect is maintained in a secular society, it will be a rational and liberal administration. In religion, the sacredness lies beyond the veil of ordinary language and understanding. However, in secular institutions, the sacredness should be combined with democratic means and methods to make it distinct from sacrilegious. 5 Secular Administrations Citing Religion In particular, the persons at the helm of secular and liberal organizations often use religious references to draw attention of the people and to make them against the fundamentalists of another culture. For example, US president George Bush is citing biblical scriptural references after 9/11 incidents to draw people’s attention. In secular western societies, it works for both religious and secular minds. Secular minds understand it as a cool phrase and religious minds understand it as a wonder working power. Secular administrations working in the atmosphere that divided the church and administration are using religious language to discriminate between good and evil and it is working. Even great leaders like Martin Luther King use scriptures in their speeches and they have worked. However, who do not know about those scriptures also like those speeches. This means that the people have good faith towards religion but the persons at the helm of the religion are not making it capable of being a part of the administrations or governments. Though the people are not aware of the scriptures, they like them when they hear. It is evident from the afore-mentioned aspect that the scriptures are right and accurate, but still the secularism finds place in the administrations separating religion from the governments. This is because though the religion is good in nature, the discrepancies in implementation makes way for secularization. This is evident from the fact that in secular administrations, leaders use religion to differentiate between good and evil. The mention of religion preaches moral and hates evil. However, the differentiation between good and evil in secular societies arise from the hatred towards enemies, who are against the ideology of a country. 6 Secularism and Religion in Public Sphere In the afore-mentioned aspect, George Bush’s biblical citations against Islam’s fundamentalists are mentioned. It is well known that the Islamic States are more in number on the globe than any other religion. As a result, in the Modern World, Islam has been a synonym for opposing secularism and so the Muslims. However, this is not true in every context and one can establish that the ways and means of the people are important but not the religion of them. It is because the body is important in potent symbols of nation. In most of the cases, a female body is a symbol of the Nation but the body of the ruler represents the power of the state. As a result, the building of a Nation or a State involved myriad interventions and inscriptions on the body of the state. The creation and regulation of bodily aesthetics or assigning the rules serve the different purposes and decide the course of the formation of the state. The nature of the resultant state depends on the material space that draws the boundaries of the public and private domains. The afore-mentioned nature decides the national public subject with either authoritarian or rational options. In this context Cinar, Alev (2005) opines that effective means through which boundaries mark the public private spaces results in rational and open nature of the society. If that effective means is absent, the state irrespective of being secular or religious will be authoritative, irrational and results in downfall or defeat like the one faced by India in its history by the foreign invaders. However, in the modern context, the lack of effective and benevolent means may result in dependence on other states for technology and other activities. The effective means may arise from secularism or through religious means, but in most modern societies, they are arising from secular basis. The democratic process in the ways and means is important for the success of the means and methods. Despite development of Islamist contestations in 1990s, Turkey modernized the interventions that involved the incrimination of the present condition of the body of the state. The modernization of the interventions resulted in liberation and transformation and resulted in a successful and a developed state like a Western State. For the afore-mentioned type of result, the modernizing agenda of a political actor is important and helps in undertaking the transformation. However, in the modern world majority of the developed nations are secular in nature but it does not mean that the secularism is more rational than religion.7 Though it is true in some contexts like supernatural power, it is not the case when secularism deprives a religion or cultures of their own right for the sake of another religion or culture. In that context, the religion benefited gets the fundamentalist stamp and the afore-mentioned aspect or change is happening in most of Asian Countries. The nationalist ideology decides the rational or authoritarian nature of the state of affairs. In Turkey, the intense interventions by the founding state in 1920s and by the Islamists in 1990s resulted in a transformation that resulted in a more rational and open state than other countries in Gulf with Islamist Population. In the course of modernization and nation building a sense of nation as a single and monolithic body is important. The unified sense, singularity and linearity of time are essential for modernity and nationalism and they are present in secularism combined with democratic principles. As the afore-mentioned aspect is absent or not thoroughly followed in religion, the religious leaders are not capable of finding solutions for complexity in modern societies. As a result, religion stands for moral value and authoritarian nature and secularism is taken as a token of rational and open nature. The concentrated efforts of nationalist projects to institute and normalize a sense of single, linear and national time are successful in building secular and democratic states. However, another aspect that made secularism to dominate over religion in modern societies is to think about satisfying the growing needs of people. In contrast, religion tries to limit the needs of the people and preaches it in the name of devotion and discipline, which is not acceptable for complex societies. Conclusion According to the discussion in the paper, the authoritarian nature of the religion is due to moral values and the aspect of limiting the needs of people in complex societies. In contrast, the secularism with democratic principles searches for solutions for the problems of the people in modern societies. However, people listen to religions citations in the speeches of political leaders and respond accordingly. This means that they like it but feel as authoritarian as they are difficult to implement or to adopt. As a result, people and leaders in modern societies take recourse under secularism that gives equal importance to all religions and cultures in multi cultural and multi religion societies. However, the detachment of Church from the administration is to continue and a compulsion in modern secular societies and states. Works Cited Austin Cline, Religion, Society, and Politicss, about.com, Editor Name not Available on site, Last Updated in 2008, Retrieved on 15th June 2008 from Mark Tully, 2005, Mark Tully on making Hindu Nation, Hindu Nation, bbc.co.uk, Editor’s name not Available on Site, Published in 2005, Retrieved on 15th June 2008 from < Fenn, Richard K, 2001, Beyond Idols: The Shape of a Secular Society, Cary, NC, USA: Oxford University Press, Incorporated. E. J. Dionne Jr, The Jesus Factor, Personal Interview, 29th April 2004. Cinar, Alev, 2005, Modernity, Islam, and Secularism in Turkey : Bodies, Places, and Time, Minneapolis, MN, USA: University of Minnesota Press. Read More