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Secularity

January 16, 2023

This article is about secularity in the sense of being unrelated to religion. For clergy who are not monks, see Secular clergy.

Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin saeculum, "worldly" or "of a generation"), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. Anything that does not have an explicit reference to religion, either negatively or positively, may be considered secular.[1] Linguistically, a process by which anything becomes secular is named secularization, though the term is mainly reserved for the secularization of society; and any concept or ideology promoting the secular may be termed secularism, a term generally applied to the ideology dictating no religious influence on the public sphere.

Definitions

Historically, the word secular was not related or linked to religion, but was a freestanding term in Latin which would relate to any mundane endeavour.[2] However, the term, saecula saeculorum (saeculōrum being the genitive plural of saeculum) as found in the New Testament in the Vulgate translation (circa 410) of the original Koine Greek phrase εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων (eis toùs aionas ton aiṓnōn), e.g. at Galatians 1:5, was used in the early Christian church (and is still used today), in the doxologies, to denote the coming and going of the ages, the grant of eternal life, and the long duration of created things from their beginning to forever and ever.[3] Secular and secularity derive from the Latin word saeculum which meant "of a generation, belonging to an age" or denoted a period of about one hundred years.[2] The Christian doctrine that God exists outside time led medieval Western culture to use secular to indicate separation from specifically religious affairs and involvement in temporal ones.[citation needed]

Modern and historical understandings of the term

"Secular" does not necessarily imply hostility or rejection of God or religion, though some use the term this way (see "secularism", below); Martin Luther used to speak of "secular work" as a vocation from God for most Christians.[citation needed] According to cultural anthropologists such as Jack David Eller, secularity is best understood, not as being "anti-religious", but as being "religiously neutral" since many activities in religious bodies are secular themselves and most versions of secularity do not lead to irreligiosity.[4]

The idea of a dichotomy between religion and the secular originated in the European Enlightenment.[5] Furthermore, since religion and secular are both Western concepts that were formed under the influence of Christian theology, other cultures do not necessarily have words or concepts that resemble or are equivalent to them.[6]

One can regard eating and bathing as examples of secular activities, because there may not be anything inherently religious about them. Nevertheless, some religious traditions see both eating and bathing as sacraments, therefore making them religious activities within those world views. Saying a prayer derived from religious text or doctrine, worshipping through the context of a religion, performing corporal and spiritual works of mercy, and attending a religious seminary school or monastery are examples of religious (non-secular) activities.

In many cultures, there is little dichotomy between "natural" and "supernatural", "religious" and "not-religious", especially since people have beliefs in other supernatural or spiritual things irrespective of belief in God or gods. Other cultures stress practice of ritual rather than belief.[7] Conceptions of both "secular" and "religious", while sometimes having some parallels in local cultures, were generally imported along with Western worldviews, often in the context of colonialism. Attempts to define either the "secular" or the "religious" in non-Western societies, accompanying local modernization and Westernization processes, were often and still are fraught with tension.[8] Due to all these factors, "secular" as a general term of reference was much deprecated in social sciences, and is used carefully and with qualifications.[9]

Taylorian secularity

Philosopher Charles Taylor in his 2007 book A Secular Age understands and discusses the secularity of Western societies less in terms of how much of a role religion plays in public life (secularity 1), or how religious a society's individual members are (secularity 2), than as a "backdrop" or social context in which religious belief is no longer taken as a given (secularity 3). For Taylor, this third sense of secularity is the unique historical condition in which virtually all individuals - religious or not - have to contend with the fact that their values, morality, or sense of life's meaning are no longer underpinned by communally-accepted religious facts. All religious beliefs or irreligious philosophical positions are, in a secular society, held with an awareness that there are a wide range of other contradictory positions available to any individual; belief in general becomes a different type of experience when all particular beliefs are optional. A plethora of competing religious and irreligious worldviews open up, each rendering the other more "fragile". This condition in turn entails for Taylor that even clearly religious beliefs and practices are experienced in a qualitatively different way when they occur in a secular social context. In Taylor's sense of the term, a society could in theory be highly "secular" even if nearly all of its members believed in a deity or even subscribed to a particular religious creed; secularity here has to do with the conditions, not the prevalence, of belief, and these conditions are understood to be shared across a given society, irrespective of belief or lack thereof.[10]

Taylor's thorough account of secularity as a socio-historical condition, rather than the absence or diminished importance of religion, has been highly influential in subsequent philosophy of religion and sociology of religion, particularly as older sociological narratives about secularisation, desecularisation, and disenchantment have come under increased criticism.[11]

References

Footnotes

  1. ^ Lee 2015, pp. 31–37.
  2. ^ a b Zuckerman & Shook 2017, pp. 4–5.
  3. ^ "CHURCH FATHERS: Against Heresies, II.34.3 (St. Irenaeus)". New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia, Fathers of the Church.
  4. ^ Eller 2010, pp. 12–13.
  5. ^ Juergensmeyer 2017, pp. 74–79.
  6. ^ Juergensmeyer 2017; Zuckerman, Galen & Pasquale 2016, ch. 2.
  7. ^ Zuckerman, Galen & Pasquale 2016, p. 31.
  8. ^ See Asad 2003, esp. pp. 205–210; Walzer 2015, esp. pp. ix–xiv, 65, 76.
  9. ^ Zuckerman, Galen & Pasquale 2016, pp. 19, 51.
  10. ^ Taylor, Charles (2007). A Secular Age. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press. pp. 1–24.
  11. ^ Calhoun, Craig; Jeurgensmeyer, Mark; Van Antwerpen, Jonathan (2011). Rethinking Secularism. Oxford: Oxford UP. p. 21.

Bibliography

  • Asad, Talal (2003). Formations of the Secular: Christianity, Islam, Modernity. Stanford University Press.
  • Eller, Jack David (2010). "What Is Atheism?". In Zuckerman, Phil (ed.). Atheism and Secularity. Volume 1: Issues, Concepts, Definitions. Santa Barbara, California: Praeger. pp. 1–18. ISBN 978-0-313-35183-9.
  •  ———  (2017). "Varieties of Secular Experience". In Zuckerman, Phil; Shook, John R. (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of Secularism. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 499ff. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199988457.013.31. ISBN 978-0-19-998845-7.
  • Lee, Lois (2015). Recognizing the Non-religious: Reimagining the Secular. Oxford University Press.
  • Juergensmeyer, Mark (2017). "The Imagined War Between Secularism and Religion". In Zuckerman, Phil; Shook, John R. (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of Secularism. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 71–84. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199988457.013.5. ISBN 978-0-19-998845-7.
  • Taylor, Charles (2007). A Secular Age. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Belknap Press. ISBN 978-0-674-02676-6.
  • Walzer, Michael (2015). The Paradox of Liberation. Yale University Press.
  • Zuckerman, Phil; Galen, Luke W.; Pasquale, Frank L. (2016). "Secularity Around the World". The Nonreligious: Understanding Secular People and Societies. New York: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199924950.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-19-992494-3.
  • Zuckerman, Phil; Shook, John R. (2017). "Introduction: The Study of Secularism". In Zuckerman, Phil; Shook, John R. (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of Secularism. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 1–17. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199988457.013.1. ISBN 978-0-19-998845-7.

Further reading

  • Iversen, Hans Raun (2013). "Secularization, Secularity, Secularism". In Runehov, Anne L. C.; Oviedo, Lluis (eds.). Encyclopedia of Sciences and Religions. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer. pp. 2116–2121. doi:10.1007/978-1-4020-8265-8_1024. ISBN 978-1-4020-8265-8.
  • Smith, James K. A. (2014). How (Not) to Be Secular: Reading Charles Tayor. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. ISBN 978-0-8028-6761-2.
  • Taylor, Charles (2009). "The Polysemy of the Secular". Social Research. 76 (4): 1143–1166. doi:10.1353/sor.2009.0046. ISSN 1944-768X. JSTOR 40972206. S2CID 140869368.

External links

  •   The dictionary definition of secular at Wiktionary

January 16, 2023
secularity, this, article, about, secularity, sense, being, unrelated, religion, clergy, monks, secular, clergy, also, secular, secularness, from, latin, saeculum, worldly, generation, state, being, unrelated, neutral, regards, religion, anything, that, does, . This article is about secularity in the sense of being unrelated to religion For clergy who are not monks see Secular clergy Secularity also the secular or secularness from Latin saeculum worldly or of a generation is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion Anything that does not have an explicit reference to religion either negatively or positively may be considered secular 1 Linguistically a process by which anything becomes secular is named secularization though the term is mainly reserved for the secularization of society and any concept or ideology promoting the secular may be termed secularism a term generally applied to the ideology dictating no religious influence on the public sphere Contents 1 Definitions 2 Modern and historical understandings of the term 2 1 Taylorian secularity 3 References 3 1 Footnotes 3 2 Bibliography 4 Further reading 5 External linksDefinitions EditHistorically the word secular was not related or linked to religion but was a freestanding term in Latin which would relate to any mundane endeavour 2 However the term saecula saeculorum saeculōrum being the genitive plural of saeculum as found in the New Testament in the Vulgate translation circa 410 of the original Koine Greek phrase eἰs toὺs aἰῶnas tῶn aἰwnwn eis tous aionas ton aiṓnōn e g at Galatians 1 5 was used in the early Christian church and is still used today in the doxologies to denote the coming and going of the ages the grant of eternal life and the long duration of created things from their beginning to forever and ever 3 Secular and secularity derive from the Latin word saeculum which meant of a generation belonging to an age or denoted a period of about one hundred years 2 The Christian doctrine that God exists outside time led medieval Western culture to use secular to indicate separation from specifically religious affairs and involvement in temporal ones citation needed Modern and historical understandings of the term Edit Secular does not necessarily imply hostility or rejection of God or religion though some use the term this way see secularism below Martin Luther used to speak of secular work as a vocation from God for most Christians citation needed According to cultural anthropologists such as Jack David Eller secularity is best understood not as being anti religious but as being religiously neutral since many activities in religious bodies are secular themselves and most versions of secularity do not lead to irreligiosity 4 The idea of a dichotomy between religion and the secular originated in the European Enlightenment 5 Furthermore since religion and secular are both Western concepts that were formed under the influence of Christian theology other cultures do not necessarily have words or concepts that resemble or are equivalent to them 6 One can regard eating and bathing as examples of secular activities because there may not be anything inherently religious about them Nevertheless some religious traditions see both eating and bathing as sacraments therefore making them religious activities within those world views Saying a prayer derived from religious text or doctrine worshipping through the context of a religion performing corporal and spiritual works of mercy and attending a religious seminary school or monastery are examples of religious non secular activities In many cultures there is little dichotomy between natural and supernatural religious and not religious especially since people have beliefs in other supernatural or spiritual things irrespective of belief in God or gods Other cultures stress practice of ritual rather than belief 7 Conceptions of both secular and religious while sometimes having some parallels in local cultures were generally imported along with Western worldviews often in the context of colonialism Attempts to define either the secular or the religious in non Western societies accompanying local modernization and Westernization processes were often and still are fraught with tension 8 Due to all these factors secular as a general term of reference was much deprecated in social sciences and is used carefully and with qualifications 9 Taylorian secularity Edit Philosopher Charles Taylor in his 2007 book A Secular Age understands and discusses the secularity of Western societies less in terms of how much of a role religion plays in public life secularity 1 or how religious a society s individual members are secularity 2 than as a backdrop or social context in which religious belief is no longer taken as a given secularity 3 For Taylor this third sense of secularity is the unique historical condition in which virtually all individuals religious or not have to contend with the fact that their values morality or sense of life s meaning are no longer underpinned by communally accepted religious facts All religious beliefs or irreligious philosophical positions are in a secular society held with an awareness that there are a wide range of other contradictory positions available to any individual belief in general becomes a different type of experience when all particular beliefs are optional A plethora of competing religious and irreligious worldviews open up each rendering the other more fragile This condition in turn entails for Taylor that even clearly religious beliefs and practices are experienced in a qualitatively different way when they occur in a secular social context In Taylor s sense of the term a society could in theory be highly secular even if nearly all of its members believed in a deity or even subscribed to a particular religious creed secularity here has to do with the conditions not the prevalence of belief and these conditions are understood to be shared across a given society irrespective of belief or lack thereof 10 Taylor s thorough account of secularity as a socio historical condition rather than the absence or diminished importance of religion has been highly influential in subsequent philosophy of religion and sociology of religion particularly as older sociological narratives about secularisation desecularisation and disenchantment have come under increased criticism 11 References EditFootnotes Edit Lee 2015 pp 31 37 a b Zuckerman amp Shook 2017 pp 4 5 CHURCH FATHERS Against Heresies II 34 3 St Irenaeus New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia Fathers of the Church Eller 2010 pp 12 13 Juergensmeyer 2017 pp 74 79 Juergensmeyer 2017 Zuckerman Galen amp Pasquale 2016 ch 2 Zuckerman Galen amp Pasquale 2016 p 31 See Asad 2003 esp pp 205 210 Walzer 2015 esp pp ix xiv 65 76 Zuckerman Galen amp Pasquale 2016 pp 19 51 Taylor Charles 2007 A Secular Age Cambridge MA Belknap Press pp 1 24 Calhoun Craig Jeurgensmeyer Mark Van Antwerpen Jonathan 2011 Rethinking Secularism Oxford Oxford UP p 21 Bibliography Edit Asad Talal 2003 Formations of the Secular Christianity Islam Modernity Stanford University Press Eller Jack David 2010 What Is Atheism In Zuckerman Phil ed Atheism and Secularity Volume 1 Issues Concepts Definitions Santa Barbara California Praeger pp 1 18 ISBN 978 0 313 35183 9 2017 Varieties of Secular Experience In Zuckerman Phil Shook John R eds The Oxford Handbook of Secularism New York Oxford University Press pp 499ff doi 10 1093 oxfordhb 9780199988457 013 31 ISBN 978 0 19 998845 7 Lee Lois 2015 Recognizing the Non religious Reimagining the Secular Oxford University Press Juergensmeyer Mark 2017 The Imagined War Between Secularism and Religion In Zuckerman Phil Shook John R eds The Oxford Handbook of Secularism New York Oxford University Press pp 71 84 doi 10 1093 oxfordhb 9780199988457 013 5 ISBN 978 0 19 998845 7 Taylor Charles 2007 A Secular Age Cambridge Massachusetts Belknap Press ISBN 978 0 674 02676 6 Walzer Michael 2015 The Paradox of Liberation Yale University Press Zuckerman Phil Galen Luke W Pasquale Frank L 2016 Secularity Around the World The Nonreligious Understanding Secular People and Societies New York Oxford University Press doi 10 1093 acprof oso 9780199924950 001 0001 ISBN 978 0 19 992494 3 Zuckerman Phil Shook John R 2017 Introduction The Study of Secularism In Zuckerman Phil Shook John R eds The Oxford Handbook of Secularism New York Oxford University Press pp 1 17 doi 10 1093 oxfordhb 9780199988457 013 1 ISBN 978 0 19 998845 7 Further reading EditIversen Hans Raun 2013 Secularization Secularity Secularism In Runehov Anne L C Oviedo Lluis eds Encyclopedia of Sciences and Religions Dordrecht Netherlands Springer pp 2116 2121 doi 10 1007 978 1 4020 8265 8 1024 ISBN 978 1 4020 8265 8 Smith James K A 2014 How Not to Be Secular Reading Charles Tayor Grand Rapids Michigan Wm B Eerdmans Publishing Co ISBN 978 0 8028 6761 2 Taylor Charles 2009 The Polysemy of the Secular Social Research 76 4 1143 1166 doi 10 1353 sor 2009 0046 ISSN 1944 768X JSTOR 40972206 S2CID 140869368 External links Edit The dictionary definition of secular at Wiktionary Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Secularity amp oldid 1133030559, 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