hinduwoman

Atheism means no belief in God.

But what exactly does secularism and secular mean? Is it all about politics?

Toto

from dictionary.com:

sec·u·lar Pronunciation Key (sky-lr)
adj.

• Worldly rather than spiritual.
• Not specifically relating to religion or to a religious body: secular music.
• Relating to or advocating secularism.
• Not bound by monastic restrictions, especially not belonging to a religious order. Used of the clergy.
• Occurring or observed once in an age or century.
• Lasting from century to century.

In American usage, it refers to things that are not religious and/or not under the control of a church, and that are acceptable under the First Amendment for government action. A person who is a believer may still have a secular part of his life. People who believe in different religions can agree on secular values, secular laws, etc.

Buffman

From the "American Heritage Dictionary:

sec-u-lar:

1.Of or pertaining to the temporal rather than to the spirutual.
(Five more, not much help IMHO)

tem-po-ral:

1. Pertaining to, concerned with, or limited by time.
2. Pertaining to or concerned with worldly affairs.

sec-tar-i-an:

1. Pertaining to or charachteristic of a sect or sects.
2. Adhering or confined to the dogmatic limits of a sect; partisan.
3. Narrow-minded; parochial.

Thus, placing "under God" in the U.S. Pledge of Allegiange changes it from a "secular" to a "sectarian" pledge with the full sponsorship of a "secular" government...(or at least one that used to claim to be constitutionally secular.)

[ July 20, 2002: Message edited by: Buffman ]</p>

Fiach

[Fiach] First, greetings Hinduwoman. We exchanged some points of view on the Worldbeliefs.com. But Secular is a synonym for worldly or public. The Catholic Church for one divides its priests into Religious (Order members) and Secular (parish priests who live in the 'secular' community. It is possible to be religious and secular, even a priest and secular. There is an evolution of the term in recent years to indicate an absense of religion. That has fogged the term. I attended secular schools in the UK that had formalised prayer in the morning.

Slainte, HW,

Fiach

d'naturalist

Well, let me add another variation on the theme...

Religion generally deals with things that are otherworldly, spiritual, divine, or occur after death.

The term 'secular' generally refers to things that are this-worldly, of the body or mind, mundane, and occur in this life. 'Secularism' is subsequently a frame of mind that views ideas, events, decisions, etc, from the "here & now" perspective.

And just to clarify one other term: 'Atheism' is simply the opinion that what is commonly referred to as a 'god' does not physically exist. It has nothing to do with believing or disbelieving in the ideals, morals, or princicples often associated with an alleged deity or deities.

I hope I've been able to enlighten a bit. Thanks for asking.

ithinklogic

I have seen some of your (hinduwoman) other posts.

So I am wondering if you are looking for the meaning of the word 'secular' as it appears in the preamble to the Constitution of India.

WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a _1[SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC] ....

Please look at the article at the following URL which traces the views of different leaders about the word 'secular' and reasons for its inclusion into the Constitution of India.

<a href="http://www.positiveatheism.org/india/s1990b01.htm" target="_blank">http://www.positiveatheism.org/india/s1990b01.htm</a>