Secularism

Question 1

What is secularism?

Answer 1

The belief that religious belief should not affect how the state is run and should have equal status with other religious and non-religious views.

Question 2

What is secularisation?

Answer 2

The process of making society more secular by removing religious influence from public institution such as government and education

Question 3

Are spiritual and human values the same?

Answer 3

YES - Humanism argues that reason can work out principles for moral living which are universal and not unique to Christianity. For example, the 2002 Amsterdam Declaration of Humanist Congress contains similar values eg) Dignity of all humans is similar to “Do not kill”.

NO - Many Christians would disagree that religious and human values are similar because although Christianity promotes the use of reason it points to the Divine for moral commands which give them further authority and Christian ethics are more radical shown in Jesus’ teaching eg) “love thy enemy” goes against reason

Question 4

When did secularism begin?

Answer 4

In the Enlightenment era. Bentham argued that the law should not be based on the bible but on scientific principles. For example when the USA won independence the divinely ordained king was no longer in charge and the First Amendment allowed religious freedom but prohibited Congress from establishing a state religion.

Question 5

What is the alternative to Secularism?

Answer 5

Theocracy- the belief that religion should play a role in the state.

Question 6

What are dominionists?

Answer 6

Evangelical Christians who argue that America should be governed by the Bible. They quote Genesis where God commands humans to have dominion over the earth which they believe to mean stewardship of state all over the world.

Question 7

What are reconstructionist?

Answer 7

Reconstructionists argue that in the bible Israel was governed by the laws of Moses and that this should be reconstructed.

Question 8

What elements of the theocratic past are still present in England?

Answer 8

In Britain, the Queen is the head of state as well as the defender of the faith. Twenty-six bishops automatically sit in the house of lords. Citizens are entitled to use their local parish church for baptisms, marriages, and funerals.

Question 9

What is programmatic secularism?

Answer 9

All religious views should be excluded from public institutions.

Question 10

What is procedural secularism?

Answer 10

Where all religions are equal as non-religious and other religious views in public institutions.

Question 11

How many children in Britain are educated by a Catholic or Church of England school?

Answer 11

1.8 million

Question 12

What is the BHA and why does it advocate against faith schools?

Answer 12

The British Humanist Association campaigns against faith schools because it argues they segregate children into different religious groups which increases intolerance.

Question 13

What does Dawkins argue about faith schools?

Answer 13

• Dawkins is concerned that religious fundamentalism replaces scientific reason with superstition. He says “religion is hell-bent on ruining the scientific education of countless thousands of young minds”
• He is concerned faith schools teach “unquestioning faith is a virtue”
• He said liberal religion simply makes way for fundamentalist ideas and consequently narrow thinking
• Dawkins does recognize that the Bible should be studied within schools but recognizing its role in history is different from teaching it as truth

Question 14

What are the criticisms of Dawkins views on faith schools?

Answer 14

• His arguments against faith schools stem from a view that all religion is narrowly fundamental and extreme

Question 15

What are the arguments for faith schools?

Answer 15

• The heritage argument points ot that churches were providing education long before the state stepped in. The churches often own school buildings so taking them under the state’s control would be property theft.
• Many parents want their children to have a faith-based education and to close these schools would deprive them of that choice
• A pluralist society should tolerate a diversity of schools
• Faith schools often do encourage diversity as Catholic schools have a greater proportion of migrant families so students are exposed to a range of cultural differences
• Leslie Francis ‘ study at Warwick University concluded that young people attending faith schools are more open to other religious backgrounds
• Charles Taylor argued that every person should be recognized for their particular identity rather than living in a way that leads to loss of distinctness. No culture, including an atheist one, should impose itself on another.
• Charles Dawson says programmatic intervention to remove religion from the curriculum is problematic as removing religion from art, music, and literature deprives people the ability to make sense of their own culture.
• James Conroy argued faith schools “exist to counter the general view that the market should define human flourishing and determine aims of education -the individual people are little more than cogs in the machine of the economy. They instead propose an idea of other that transcends capitalism.”

Question 16

What is Freud’s view on religion?

Answer 16

• Freud argued that religion is the infantile stage of early development as a result of the Oedipus complex. A boy learns he cannot be with his mother he becomes angry towards his father and suppresses this guilt in the superego. The boy has ambivalent feelings towards his father as he needs him and projects these feelings on God. God is a psychological construct created by humans to regain control over the terrors of nature.
• Just as neurotic patients find comfort in rituals eg) OCD patients obsessively wash their hands, repetitive religious rituals such as confession or prayer becomes obsessive and controls the drive in our ID.
• Freud says religion is a universal obsessive neurosis which can be cured by psychoanalysis and when this happens only ten will we be content

Question 17

What are the supports of Freud?

Answer 17

• Hume argues that religion is practised by uneducated people and those who have mentally grown up have no need for religious beliefs
• Feuerbach argues God is a psychological construct and he said God is “man writ large”

Question 18

What are the criticisms of Freud?

Answer 18

• Freud wanted to explain everything in material terms as he was a reductionist so he dismisses any spiritual experience as there is no scientific proof. Keith Ward argues that “the reduction of all this to blind purposeless blundering of bits of matter seems desperately inadequate and superficial”
• It is true that for some religious experience and ritual is a result of neurosis but this does not mean it is the case for all. Likewise, some religions may be controlling and cause guilt but not all.
• Freud says religion is disabling but for many, it gives them strength. It combines communities and gives a sense of purpose. Jo Merchant argues there is scientific evidence for positive medical and psychological benefit arising from faith in a higher power. She said “The irony is that although those beliefs might be false they do sometimes work: they make us better.”

Question 19

What does Dawkins argue about religion?

Answer 19

• He argues religion is given a disproportionate place in society but is immune to criticism because society accepts these beliefs even whe they are dangerous and lead to intolerance
• In his book ‘The God Delusion’ he urges us to imagine a world without religion and to accept atheism with pride
• Dawkins is a reductionist and argues it makes more sense to believe in scientific evolution than a divine creator
• He says Stephen Jay Gould’s view of Non-Overlapping Magisterium is native. Gould says the supernatural can’t be subjected to reason but Dawkins said this could leave us with the idea of a celestial teapot. When reason is applied to religion all arguments for God are at best inconclusive.
• Some atheist tolerate religion because it makes people happy but Dawkins argues its child abuse. He points specifically to Hell Houses in the USA where children are taught about hell and how to avoid it. He also argues that parents indoctrinate their children into religion before they know what this means and hi-jack their minds. He says that schools that reject evolution in favour of creationism are scandals.

Question 20

What are the criticisms of Dawkins arguments about religion?

Answer 20

• In his book, ‘The Dawkins Delusion’ Alistair McGrath says there are some things we believe that we can’t prove rationally eg) love
• Dawkins rejects the God of the Gaps argument rightly but the fact that the universe can be proven intelligently may point to a designer which suggest science and religion are not in conflict
• Dawkins rejects questions such as “why are we here?” as meaningless but McGrath says this is limited and science can provide insight.
• Dawkins says religion causes harm but Jesus taught again violence an Atheists regimes have caused suffering too eg) Stalinism

Question 21

What are the Christian arguments for secularism?

Answer 21

+ It challenges Christians to change to be more relevant is the modern world
+ It gives Christianity the chance to promote equality and contribute to society

Question 22

What are the Christian arguments against secularism?

Answer 22

• It doesn’t recognize the feeling religion evokes
• Some argue religion fanaticism is a reaction to secularism
• It could sideline Christian’s influence and lead to immoral legalizations being made