Secularism

A vital element in Humanism is secularism or laïcité. This is the principle that, in a plural, open society where people follow many different religious and non-religious ways of life, the communal institutions that we share (and together pay for) should provide a neutral public space where we can all meet on equal terms. The European Court of Human Rights has endorsed this principle: in its own words, it “has frequently emphasised the State’s role as the neutral and impartial organiser of the exercise of various religions, faiths and beliefs, and stated that this role is conducive to public order, religious harmony and tolerance in a democratic society. It also considers that the State’s duty of neutrality and impartiality is incompatible with any power on the State’s part to assess the legitimacy of religious beliefs and that it requires the State to ensure mutual tolerance between opposing groups” (Refah Partisi et al. v. Turkey).

Secularism requires that civil society find a common ethic, acceptable to all its members. It is the opposite of theocracy and rejects not just the establishment of a specific sect or denomination as the official religion of the state but also legal or other official discrimination in favour of religion at large or any particular religious group.

Thus supra-national, national and local government and public institutions – public hospitals, schools, broadcasting etc – should remain even-handed towards all different belief systems and the organisations and groups (churches etc) that embody and represent them. A secular or laïque society is not an anti-religious one. Rather, it is one where fundamental beliefs that we disagree about – beliefs that provide strong motivation to some but mean little or nothing to those who do not hold them – are left aside in public debate about communal decisions.

The religious may find inspiration in their beliefs, but public debate should be conducted in terms we can all understand and based on principles we can all agree about. Only such a society can truly respect freedom of religion or belief.

There are many references to secularism on this website: the most significant extended treatment is The Humanist View of Society and in particular the memorandum on Religion in Society referred to there.

In practical terms, the EHF fought a long but ultimately unsuccessful battle for secularism in the EU in resisting church privileges and in particular “Article 17″.

This content last updated 17 April 2012 @ 5:12 pm