There is no such thing as secular culture.
Maybe you’ve heard differently.
You might even think you’re a secularist.
Here’s a definition of ‘secularism’ – the view that public education and other matters of civil policy should be conducted without the introduction of a religious element.
Here’s a quote from a secularism website – The separation of religion and state is the foundation of secularism.
Here’s a quote from Psychology Today – ideologies and policies which seek to keep civic life free from religious domination or preference. That is, keeping government out of the business of religion and religion out of the business of government.
Here’s one more – Politically, ‘secularism’ can mean very different things. The basic idea is that public life should be separate from organized religion.
Generally speaking, secularism wants to separate government from religion.
But before you pump your fist in the air and shout, “Huzzah,” I need to ask…
…what is “religion”?
Because if we don’t know what religion is we won’t be able to separate it out of our lives!
For you bright-eyed secularists, the definition of religion is gonna be a bummer.
Religion is – a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects:
Examples of religion would be:
- Christianity
- Buddhism
- Islam
- and Secularism
So…
Secularism is – a specific fundamental set of beliefs that seeks to separate civil policy from specific fundamental sets of beliefs.
Trying to separate religion from culture is like separating water from aquariums.
If you’re successful – the fish die.
Religion is ALWAYS the center of civilization.
Religious philosophy is deeply ingrained in humanity.
Our specific fundamental beliefs shape our culture.
Secularism IS religion.
Which means…secular culture cannot exist apart from religion.
So a “Secular Society” is like “Narnia” or “Oz”.
Mythological.
Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done. Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents. They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy. They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too.
Romans 1:28
17 Responses
“Can we talk about the child abuse, please? Please??? How about American government? Will you be sidetracked by a discussion about biblical interpretation, John? Please?
JOHN, LET’S TALK ABOUT THE CONSTITUTION!”
lol.
Readers, take note. When the Atheists feel uncomfortable enough to say something–anything!–it’s probably a good post. Lol.
Well, it’s a change, at least, from the usual fawning sycophancy.
Rhyme?
The playful, witty repartee
eroded over time.
The bitter, angry sentiments
no longer masked by rhyme.
The implications of this state
could not be less subtle.
One wanders from the topic when
one has no rebuttal.
That made me laugh out loud, and so
I think it’s very clear:
Forgive this fawning sycophant,
JB’s the winner here. 😉
John prefers semantic masturbation to asking more interesting questions, such as whether secularism offers people a more viable means of getting along with one another. In this respect, it’s preferable to the Abrahamic religions– fairer, more humane, for a start– with the added virtue that it doesn’t oblige anyone to accept untenable supernatural beliefs.
The analogy to aquariums without water is especially foolish: people don’t start dying simply because you remove certain religio/cultural beliefs from society. The Nordic countries are now increasingly secular, and they’re in a hell of a much better state than America is.
Chris prefers throwing around words like “masturbation” rather than engaging the subject, because his goal is to get banned and earn Atheist Troll Cred.
Keep trying, man. We once had an atheist post a picture of a Christ Figure with a naked penis.
MAKE IT RHYME. Otherwise you’re not memorable.
Who knew that “masturbation”
Could cause such consternation?
A lot of fuss and moanin’
Should we blame it all on Onan?
Yep! I am a survivor of the secular religious abuse. Nobody likes to hear that truth, but true it is. Rabid religious fundamentalism can and and does thrive even in the absence of God. It’s science actually. “nature abhors a vacuum.” You try to take something away, something else even less pleasant just comes rushing in. A bit ironic too, “separation of church and state” is actually a Christian ideal. Islam, Communism, Socialism, banana republics, none of those systems give a crap about your right to reject them.
Banana Republic. 😂 I didn’t realize that was a term apart from the retail chain until thirty seconds ago!
Yeah, you take away the authoritarian power and blighted autonomy of the Church, and damned if something even less pleasant– like minimizing child abuse, and holding the churches accountable– doesn’t come rushing in to fill the void.
Are you always this incoherent?
Good point about the separation of church and state being another product of Christianity. The secularists think that was implemented to keep the church from expressing itself in governmental issues. They’re wrong.
The separation of church and state is what enables secularists to pretend they aren’t religious.
John: you’re still at it. No-one cares whether anyone calls secularism a religion. It’s beside the point.
But it’s mildly interesting that even Americans can’t seem to agree on how to interpret their own Constitution; whether the nation was founded on Christian principles; whether or not it endorses separation of church and state.
Your Constitution is as much subject to differing interpretation as the Bible.
Narnia is mythological? Well, pooie! I still liked your blog!
“Secularism is a belief system that rejects religion, or the belief that religion should not be part of the affairs of the state or part of public education. The principles of separation of church and state and of keeping religion out of the public school system are an example of secularism.”
“Religion the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods.”
If you install religious qualities in earthly entities such as worshipping an earthly bound god then you may call it a religion, such as:
“Secular religion. A secular religion is a communal belief system that often rejects or neglects the metaphysical aspects of the supernatural, commonly associated with traditional religion, instead placing typical religious qualities in earthly entities.”
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Google has it right, you got it wrong.
Thanks for stating a specific set of beliefs shared by a group or sect! Wikipedia, Google, and I all got it right.