Lesson 1: Secular humanist views.
Secular: not connected to or associated with religious or spiritual matters
Secularisation: a theory that religious belief would decline as democracy and
technology advanced.
Jose Casanove in “Rethinking secularisation” identifies three ways in which people
talk about secularisation:
1. “The decline of belief and practice in modern society”. Some suggest this is a
normal universe, human development process.
Census shows that between 2001 and 2011, the number of people who said
they have no religion increased from 15% to 25%
2. “The privatisation of religion... religion should be private and not seen in public
Legal case: Eweida vs United Kingdom (2013) ECHR 37
3. “The secular separation of spheres of state, economy, science, which are free
from religious institutions”
Some sociologists question the claim that religious belief is in decline:
1. 2011 census: 75% of people believe in religion
2. Paul Heelas and Linda Woodhead identified a growth in alternative
spiritualities as Christianity declines
3. Charles Taylor suggests that the UK has moved from an assumption that
most people are Christian to a situation in which religious belief is more
diverse.
Secular humanism is a non-religious approach to life which is based on:
- Using science and reason to understand the world
- Valuing and having empathy and concern for other human beings
Secular humanists believe that Christian belief is person, and should play no part in
public life, including schools and the government state.
The key idea is that religion should have no influence on the law and on public
services. In the UK there are debates about what this means in practice.
Education and schools:
- Humanists UK argue that the state should not fund faith schools.
- “Parents have an explicit right... to bring up their children in religion or belief of
their choice without illegitimate interference from the state” Humanists UK
- More than 1.8 million children in England are educated in schools run by either
the Church of England or the Catholic Church.
- The legally required daily act of collective worship which applies to all schools,
whether faith schools or not.
- Another argument against faith schools' centres on the view that it is divisive,
and not conducive to social cohesion to educated children in segregated groups.
This argument suggests that if children mis with people from different
backgrounds of their own, this will make them more tolerant and respectful.
, Government and the state:
The United Kingdom: monarch is also Head of the Church of England. All laws
receive “royal assent” before coming into force. Some MPs have religious
beliefs, others do not. Some religious MPs publicly express their beliefs, others
do not. State organisations try to balance their role of providing service for all in
society with respecting different religions. For example, in the NHS staff are
allowed to refuse to participate in medical procedures that are against their
beliefs like abortion.
France: formal separation between religion and government, through the
concept of laicite. For example, there is a strong culture of Catholic Christianity,
to be legally married a couple must marry in a civic institution – any religious
ceremony they may also have is separate and does not include legality of
marriage this contrasts the UK where a religious minister can meet legal
requirements.
Japan: An example of fusion between religion and government was clear at the
end of the second world war. At the time the Japanese Emperor was considered
to be a God by his people. When Japan was defeated, the Americans forced the
emperor to publicly admit this was not the case. The Humanity Declaration was
made on 1st January 1946, in which the belief that the emperor was divine was
acknowledged as false conception.
Lesson 2: Evaluating secular humanist views
Many sociologists, philosophers and theologians have concluded that the assumption
that progress leads to decline of religion is incorrect: “to be sure modernization has
had some secularising effects, more in some places than others. But it has also
provoked powerful movements of counter-secularisation" Peter Berger.
Counter-secularisation might include the increased popularity of spiritual practices
and new forms of religion. Linda Woodhead uses the analogy of sending instant
messages. An early method of sending an instant message was to use a telegram.
The use of telegrams has declined since the 1950’s, but it would be incorrect to draw
the conclusion that people don't send instant messages anymore.
Christendom: group of countries/ states in which most people were Christian, and
Christianity was the socially expected norm.
Do secularism and secularisation offer new opportunities for Christianity to
develop new ways of thinking and acting?
The Future of Christian Theology, David Ford
- Secularism led to the concept of religious tolerance
- A new understanding of government, based on democracy rather than the rule
of the monarch, led to the decline of Christendom.
- There was greater tolerance for religious minorities
Secular: not connected to or associated with religious or spiritual matters
Secularisation: a theory that religious belief would decline as democracy and
technology advanced.
Jose Casanove in “Rethinking secularisation” identifies three ways in which people
talk about secularisation:
1. “The decline of belief and practice in modern society”. Some suggest this is a
normal universe, human development process.
Census shows that between 2001 and 2011, the number of people who said
they have no religion increased from 15% to 25%
2. “The privatisation of religion... religion should be private and not seen in public
Legal case: Eweida vs United Kingdom (2013) ECHR 37
3. “The secular separation of spheres of state, economy, science, which are free
from religious institutions”
Some sociologists question the claim that religious belief is in decline:
1. 2011 census: 75% of people believe in religion
2. Paul Heelas and Linda Woodhead identified a growth in alternative
spiritualities as Christianity declines
3. Charles Taylor suggests that the UK has moved from an assumption that
most people are Christian to a situation in which religious belief is more
diverse.
Secular humanism is a non-religious approach to life which is based on:
- Using science and reason to understand the world
- Valuing and having empathy and concern for other human beings
Secular humanists believe that Christian belief is person, and should play no part in
public life, including schools and the government state.
The key idea is that religion should have no influence on the law and on public
services. In the UK there are debates about what this means in practice.
Education and schools:
- Humanists UK argue that the state should not fund faith schools.
- “Parents have an explicit right... to bring up their children in religion or belief of
their choice without illegitimate interference from the state” Humanists UK
- More than 1.8 million children in England are educated in schools run by either
the Church of England or the Catholic Church.
- The legally required daily act of collective worship which applies to all schools,
whether faith schools or not.
- Another argument against faith schools' centres on the view that it is divisive,
and not conducive to social cohesion to educated children in segregated groups.
This argument suggests that if children mis with people from different
backgrounds of their own, this will make them more tolerant and respectful.
, Government and the state:
The United Kingdom: monarch is also Head of the Church of England. All laws
receive “royal assent” before coming into force. Some MPs have religious
beliefs, others do not. Some religious MPs publicly express their beliefs, others
do not. State organisations try to balance their role of providing service for all in
society with respecting different religions. For example, in the NHS staff are
allowed to refuse to participate in medical procedures that are against their
beliefs like abortion.
France: formal separation between religion and government, through the
concept of laicite. For example, there is a strong culture of Catholic Christianity,
to be legally married a couple must marry in a civic institution – any religious
ceremony they may also have is separate and does not include legality of
marriage this contrasts the UK where a religious minister can meet legal
requirements.
Japan: An example of fusion between religion and government was clear at the
end of the second world war. At the time the Japanese Emperor was considered
to be a God by his people. When Japan was defeated, the Americans forced the
emperor to publicly admit this was not the case. The Humanity Declaration was
made on 1st January 1946, in which the belief that the emperor was divine was
acknowledged as false conception.
Lesson 2: Evaluating secular humanist views
Many sociologists, philosophers and theologians have concluded that the assumption
that progress leads to decline of religion is incorrect: “to be sure modernization has
had some secularising effects, more in some places than others. But it has also
provoked powerful movements of counter-secularisation" Peter Berger.
Counter-secularisation might include the increased popularity of spiritual practices
and new forms of religion. Linda Woodhead uses the analogy of sending instant
messages. An early method of sending an instant message was to use a telegram.
The use of telegrams has declined since the 1950’s, but it would be incorrect to draw
the conclusion that people don't send instant messages anymore.
Christendom: group of countries/ states in which most people were Christian, and
Christianity was the socially expected norm.
Do secularism and secularisation offer new opportunities for Christianity to
develop new ways of thinking and acting?
The Future of Christian Theology, David Ford
- Secularism led to the concept of religious tolerance
- A new understanding of government, based on democracy rather than the rule
of the monarch, led to the decline of Christendom.
- There was greater tolerance for religious minorities
