The Need to Complete the Secularization of Society

Essays in the Philosophy of Humanism 18 (2):25-34 (2010)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

It is argued here that our future depends on our completing the secularization of society. This means addressing the problem of authoritarian religions that suppress freedom of belief and opinion. We must promote a post-religious humanism to deal with this problem. This is no more than reviving the humanist consensus which all the major religions acknowledged at least till the 1970s. Until then a comparative religion movement sought to construct a world religion but its endeavours have come to nothing. Secularization means that religious sentiments belong to individuals who work them out for themselves. These sentiments are no longer the prerogative of organizations that impose them on individuals. It is for everyone to develop their own creed on humanist principles. This humanist message contributes to a world monoculture which is now being established everywhere and on which the world’s future peace and security depends.

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 92,953

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

Secularizare si religie/ Secularization and Religion.Cãlin Sãplãcan - 2003 - Journal for the Study of Religions and Ideologies 2 (5):119-126.
Secularizare/ desecularizare. Un rezumat de etapa/ Secularization/ De-Secularization.Marius Jucan - 2004 - Journal for the Study of Religions and Ideologies 3 (7):192-203.
Can Martyrdom Survive Secularization?Lacey Baldwin Smith - 2008 - Social Research: An International Quarterly 75 (2):435-460.
Secularization/de-secularization.M. Jucan - 2004 - Journal for the Study of Religions and Ideologies 2 (7):192-203.
Religion in a Deliberative Society: What Really Happened to Us in the "Era of Secularization".Guido Dierickx - 2003 - Logos. Anales Del Seminario de Metafísica [Universidad Complutense de Madrid, España] 6 (3).
A Post-Secular Look at Tradition: Toward a Definition of “Traditionism”.Yaacov Yadgar - 2011 - Telos: Critical Theory of the Contemporary 2011 (156):77-98.

Analytics

Added to PP
2015-02-02

Downloads
6 (#1,482,519)

6 months
5 (#710,646)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

Citations of this work

No citations found.

Add more citations

References found in this work

No references found.

Add more references