What is secularism?
The term was coined by George Jacob Holyoake, he meant it to associate with the free thoughts which the history was full of. He did not meant to specifically castigate the religion but merely wish the government and the state should be kept away from the religion. This was an adopted definition of the secularism for long, since this notion was from west the definition suggests, "separating the state and the Church". George Holyoake himself defines it in his book "English secularism" as the
"code of duty pertaining to this life for all those who find Theocracy as unreliable, unbelievable inadequate and undefined and those who believe in the three principles, 1) The improvement in this life by material means 2) That science is the providence of man 3) Good is always good."
His secualr ethics calls for the not discussing the religious principles by the state as it was irrelevant. This he broke away with the Charles Bradlaugh and suggested that freethoughs and the atheism are the two different identities.
Classification of the Secularism
The secularism can be classified on the basis of the definition or the way it is applied across the countries, the Institute of study of secularism in society and culture divides the mordern secularism in two broad categories,
1) Hard secularism:- This form of secularism rebukes the concept of the religious doctrine on epistimological grounds and terms the religion as illegitimate and irregular.
2) Soft Secularism:- This brand of secularism have a tolerant quotient in itself and suggests that since the human knowledge can not be absolute, this calls for taking an accommodating stance on the religious issues. Most countries of the world follow this brand of Secularism with a difference degrees of variance.
Attributes of the Secularism
The secularism inherently places everyone at par irrespective of the religion of the person. It promotes the equality within the religion itself, It not only talks with the inter religious issues but also talks about the intra religious disparity as well.
i) Secularism on the intra religious disparities:-
The problems which has been the identified as man made are sought to be answered by means of religion and the philosophy. Secularism adores this conception and thus is not anti religious by any means.
There however exists deep rooted problems in the religion, very few religions calls for the equality between the the two sex, In hindusim, dalits were considered as way below par than Bhramins, they were employed as labors and were persecuted. Secularism thus came into the picture and defies this disparity within the religion and asserts a equlity among religion, but does not defy the religion itself. Hence it can not be termed as atheism which discards for the complete existence of religion itself.
Secular state:-
Some define a secular state as one which is not theocratic, meaning the states which do not take the order directly from a particularly preists or religious authority, however this definition seems to be quite narrow. The Islamic republic of Pakistan have Islam has a state religion and this many times the shariyat get the validity by various courts, hence it can not be termed as a secular society. A secular state ist the one which not only theocratic but also distance itself from all the religions, without disregarding the religion itself.
The secular state ought to promote the puristic society where the people of multiple ethnic group can live peacefully and can co exists together with each being given the equal opportunity. Since everyone is given equal opportunity, the application of he secularism in longer term results in the formation of a society which sounds like a melting pot where people have a common objective thus breaking the combination of the caste and caste.
Models of Democracy:-
Western model of Democracy(American model)
Western and typically the American model of democracy is based on the principle of "Ceaser and God" of the bible which says "Give the caeser what is caeser's and God what is God's" This inherently calls for a separation of powers between the religion and the state. Most appropriate application has been seen in America where the religious institutions and the government are separated with each other and there is no way the two can intersect. The government can not undertake any responsibility which is religious not does it can interfair in any other religious activity. This model makes government passive towards religion. However there are some drawbacks associated with it as well, Since government can not interfare in the religion, it does not have a power to intervene when it is visible that religion is not promoting the equality or is being involved in castigating the other religion. The very sound example was visible when a pastor organised an even to burn a sacred book of other religion and government does not have any tools to stop that happning.
Indian Model:-
Indian models can not truly be said a copy book case of application of secularism but it indeed contain all the basic definitions and prerequisites of the Secular society. The India does not have any state religion nor does it have any affiliation with other religious institutes, it puts it's civilians at par with one another without discriminationg on the basis of caste and religion. The preamble of the constitution of India terms itself a Secular republic in 42nd amendment.
However India does not apply the theory of "Caeser and God". The state see it's role in promoting the harmony in interreligious issues and equality among the intra religious issues. The Personal law boards are put in place for different religions which are delegated the responsibility to formulate the policies for the government on the religious issues. Constitution terms the caste system illegal and tries to bring the oppressed castes at par with others by means of giving them reservations in the governmental jobs.
