Secularism?

Definition: Secularism is the concept that government or other entities should exist separately from religion and/or religious beliefs.

For years I have misunderstood what secularism is. I had equated it to a Godless society, where faith is rejected, and yet by definition, nothing could be further from the truth, so in the past I may have spoken out against it in error. You may be like me, so let’s set the record straight. That is why I started with a definition, and not a verse of Scripture, which will come later.

The USA is a prime example of a secular nation, and we have no problem with this. The nation was born out of a deep desire of the Pilgrims to escape the worst excesses and abuses of the state sponsored religion of Great Britain. Yes, the UK is still a non secular nation because the Church of England has safe seats in the House of Lords for archbishops, and so has a direct influence on government. That is the link between the state and religion. When America was setting out its Declaration of Independence, it wanted and needed separation of church and state, to protect the religious organisations (mainly but not exclusively Christian) from those state abuses which drove them there in the first place. So far so good.

There are other examples of secular societies, like France and Iran. Now we hit different problems, because in France where the religious majority is Roman Catholic, the rights of Muslims have been sidelined, and in Iran which is an Islamic state, no other religion is tolerated. My own problem closer to home is that the ‘Secular Humanists’ in the West have hi-jacked the very meaning and intention of secularism, and for them, and therefore us, it means a Godless society. So we are back where we started. It doesn’t really matter what the word meant initially, it now does mean that Scotland and the UK have a job on their hands to prevent secularism. The best words of advice and wisdom come directly from Jesus, and it does us well to remember, and act on them...

And He said to them, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” Luke 20:25 NKJV