Secularism has been a topic to intense debate in recent times. The National Secular Society provide a two-phased definition of the term. The organization notes that secularism is the occurrence where a state decides to distance itself from religious beliefs and structures. It is also the phenomenon in which people of varying beliefs are treated equally in the face of the law (National Secular Society). Many high profile figures have voiced their opinion on the topic with the most recent being the President of the United States, Barrack Obama’s claim that “Democracy demands that the religiously motivated must translate their concerns into universal, rather than religion-specific values” (National Secular Society). His assertion spurs a solid argument on whether countries need to embrace the new trend of being secular. Analysis of literature proves that the subject has varied opinions. However, despite the controversy about its demerits, secularism is a new trend that offers potential benefits if given priority in the world today is a political answer towards meeting the needs of multicultural societies.
Member Countries
The National Secular Society claims that secularism involves the state where not only a nation separate itself from religion, but religious societies are not required to make contributions to the state. So far, many countries have tried to comply to each having different perceptions as to the drive towards the same. According to The Newsworthy Theme, a total
This quote means that it is okay for a president to use religion in his politics and bring a faithful aspect to the table. Separation of church and state is keeping Americans from facing their fears of having a national religion. Americans are religious, even though there are many religions that are practiced throughout the country, we need a president who believes in a God to lead us. Many ask if the government needs religion and honestly yes we do. God has created this beautiful country for us to live on, and the government needs religion to help us
Introduction: In the text by Eboo Patel “Acts of Faith: The Story of an American Muslim, the Struggle for the Soul of a Generation,” Patel focuses on living in a diverse faction full of religious prejudice in a world full of materialistic outlooks. At the same time he intertwines his personal experiences and provides a remarkable account in which he says that growing up in America as a Muslim led him to discover the importance of cultural pluralism, the acceptance of all religions, and his huge account that all Muslims aren’t extremists. He believes in ethnocentrism; religions should be able to coexist without feeling that one religion is superior than the other. In a world where the forces that seek to divide us are strong, Patel thinks the meaning of pluralism is that the differences
Prior to the 16th century all of Europe was Catholic. Because of the Protestant Reformation during the 16th, 17th, and 18th century, more religious minorities came about throughout Europe. This led to the French Wars of religion and to the topic of religious toleration, how much religious freedom the religious minorities should have. Some people had arguments and performed practices, both for and against religious toleration, some did it for personal gain and others for the concern of society.
Like most things that are society based, religion has evolved alongside our own culture. America is a melting pot of different ethnic backgrounds and cultures making it a perfect place for religion to adapt and flourish. For this analysis, I am drawing from “Civil Religion in America” by Robert N. Bellah (1967) on his ideas of American civil religion. In the text Bellah (1967) argues that civil religion is an important dimension that needs to be recognized in sociology. While Bellah focuses specifically on the United States of America, he still gives a valuable perspective on civil religion and how it plays a part in religion as a whole.
In conclusion separation of church and state is a significant matter in our country. Before choosing this topic I was aware of the situation but not how relevant the topic was. I was unaware of what a Separatist or Accommadatonist was or what they stood for. This paper has taught me a lot, I have learned to be more aware of the issues in our country.
The Protestant Reformation of 1517 to 1648 caused the widespread tension of religious tolerance, in which some religions took a particular direction regarding their practices and arguments. While some leaders, intellectuals and radical reformers supported the idea of religious toleration due to their beliefs in its contribution to unity, which would prevent turmoil and unrest, rulers and nobles of great power and rank opposed religious toleration due to their fears of heretics and the treacherous effect they would have on the uniformity of their states. In document 5, King Henry of Francce addresses religious toleration in his Edict of Nantes, which was signed on April 30 of 1598. It granted Huguenots or French Calvinists, religious freedom.
In his farewell address, George Washington outlines the importance of religion to the maintenance of American ideals and, therefore, the new American government. Washington describes religion as a means to an end. In his view, all morality stems from religion. Because moral behavior is necessary for the survival of the American system, religion itself is the vehicle by which a moral society and government will be achieved. Washington’s argues for religion in American society from a principled and a pragmatic context.
This statement is key because it displays how religious principals and characteristics promotes the protection for property, reputation, and life. Furthermore, without religion and its obligated principals, people will most likely abandon oaths, which are significant requirements in the justice system. Moreover, Washington wanted to express that if the people have integrity, honor, and commitment then they will be able to understand the meaning of respecting the laws and justice system. Also, how religion and its principles lead to the concept of morality and cannot be sustained without
In the essay, “ The Role of Religion in Modern Society”, Dalai Lama, The preeminent religious authority in Buddhism reveals the reason behind why religion has been a major source of conflict throughout the history, and how inter-religious harmony is the key to overcoming conflict of the first sort. He goes deeper into the similarities between different religion and identifies the obstacles that obstruct inter-religious harmony by developing ways to overcome them. He believes religion plays a vital role in the modern society by shaping the person's spiritual qualities rather than making him a better religious person than the other. Dalai Lama expounds that religious practice can help a person cope with adversity than those who don't.
Over the past few years, anyone can tell you that religious importance in our country has become less, and less vital. Recent events like the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City, New York, and the attacks on Paris, France, have made the freedom of religion harder and harder to come by. Having the free practice of religion has proved difficult. Christianity has suffered from these issues as the general acceptance of the religion has declined substantially in the few decades. A recent poll there was a sense of discrimination for the Islamic religion, as they have been responsible for the attacks, 8/10 Americans believe Christianity should be practiced freely, while only a mere 6/10 Americans think the Muslims should practice freely (Source #3).
Typically, America is seen as the land of the free. Citizens have freedom of speech, press, assembly, and religion. Legally speaking, a person is entitled to the liberties mentioned above; however, they’re condoned if they do not conform to the values traditionally held by the majority Americans. For instance, everyone is free to practice any religion of their choice, but America is a predominantly Christian nation; therefore, those who practice a different religion are often victimized. In fact, John Oskison highlights America’s hypocrisy in “The Problem of Old Harjo”.
J RAWLS, The Laws of Peoples-with the Idea of Public Reason Revisited, Harvard University Press: USA, 1999. John Rawls was an influential political philosopher and his publications are widely read. One of which is the Law of Peoples published in 1993 which is the subject of my study. In the Law of Peoples Rawls concerns of the general principles whereby one can uphold and be accept by the liberal people as well as the non-liberal society. “This principle is a standard for which can be useful in regulating the behavior of the citizens towards one and other.”
The author gives a view on the religions in the global context. 5. Topic Sentence: The contemporary world today combines a wide diversity of world religions and in order to preserve peace people ought to display high level of mutual tolerance.
RELIGION CAUSES MORE HAARM THAN GOOD TO SOCIETY Religion according to the oxford dictionary is the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power especially a personal God or gods. Every human being in one way or the other belongs to a particular religion. Since religion makes us worship one God then it should be binding all of us. Actually it is not, it rather tears people apart day in and day out .It is true that religion has influenced society positively in diverse ways, but the bad outweighs the good. Thus I think religion causes more harm than good to the society.
He wants to demonstrate that the contemporary privileging of the secular state is problematic by pointing out the dangers of an inclusivist approach as well as the vapidity of multiculturalism with its empty desire to respect differences whilst not living them out to the full. Serious understanding of inter-religious encounters is vital to make an intercultural dialogue proper. It is necessary for us to combine the linguistic form with the specific context of the utterance in order to determine the full meaning of an utterance. Wolf finally talks about the approaches that nation states should take in dealing with religions.