Secularism

This forum is designed to address the issues of separation of church and state. You need not be of any particular religious ideology (or non-religious ideology) to post here. If you have questions or comments regarding issues of the legality (in whatever country you hail from) of religion intruding into the public sphere then feel free to comment or query.

Personally, secularism is a driving force with me and I hope that this forum will bring forth some insightful and thoughtful discourse.

Rules: Discussions regarding separation of church and state and those issues (current or past) relating thereof shall only be permitted here. Any commentary espousing prosyletization by any scriptural means may be allowed if directly relating to the public sphere and the law "of the land"; ie. constitutional or legal law. No inflammatory attacks will be tolerated.

Secularism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Secularism is generally the assertion that certain practices or institutions should exist separately from religion or religious belief. Alternatively, it is a principle of promoting secular ideas or values in either public or private settings. It may also be a synonym for "secularist movement". In the extreme, it is an ideology that holds that religion has no place in public life.

In one sense, secularism may assert the freedom of religion, and freedom from the government imposition of religion upon the people, within a state that is neutral on matters of belief, and gives no state privileges or subsidies to religions. In another sense, it refers to a belief that human activities and decisions, especially political ones, should be based on evidence and fact rather than religious influence.

The purposes and arguments in support of secularism vary widely. In European laicism, it has been argued that secularism is a movement toward modernization, and away from traditional religious values. This type of secularism, on a social or philosophical level, has often occurred while maintaining an official state church or other state support of religion. In the United States, some argue that state secularism has served to a greater extent to protect religion from governmental interference, while secularism on a social level is less prevalent. Within countries as well, however, differing political movements support secularism for equally varying reasons.