The challenges of secularism Flashcards
1
Q
Introductions
A
- Tied in with Pluralism unit
- whether religion is good for society or whether secularism is better.
- Secularism challenges the truth, morality, political power and social benefit of religion.
- Religious leaders and theologians argue back, however, that religion is not that bad, or that secularism can be just as bad or worse, or that religion is necessary for some vital purpose such as moral values.
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‘what yesterday was still relgion is no longer such today: and what today is atheism, tomorrow will be relgion’ Fueberbach
^ religion is fluid/adapts overtime
2
Q
Keyword
secularism
A
The belief that religion should play no part in the state and the affair of the government in public life
3
Q
keyword
Secularisation
A
The decline in religion to modernisation.
4
Q
keyword
Wish-fufilment
A
Frued, wish-fufilment is the satisfaction of a desire a dream or other exercise of the imagination.
5
Q
Freud: religion as an illusion, irrational wish fulfilment
The Future of an illusion
A
- Freud argues that belief in religion is caused by the psychological fear of a chaotic, unpredictable world and a fear of adult life and its responsibilities.
- religious beliefs are a delusion that exists to protect us from nature and fate.
- According to Frued,religion ‘is a product of wish fufilment‘. The Future of an illusion
- believed religion is unhealthy.
- The experience of vulnerability and heplessness that human experience as children is made more tolerable.
- During childhood, order is represented by the father.
- Freud argued that this childish state of mind should be replaced by a scientific understanding of the world which will provide order and predictability but without illusion.
6
Q
Dawkins take on Frued
A
- Athiets - book: The God of Delusions
- argues that life should meaningful without te reference to religion
- The human need for God is infantile and an adult should ne able to find meaning in life from sources other than relgion
- religion is repressive = represses women, in terms of dress code
- relgion is something that everyone should escape from = he was concerned about the indoctrination of children by religion.
- Dawkins is influenced by Freud, agreeing that religion is the result of childish wishful thinking regarding death:
- ’‘tends to lead to people believing in things for which there is no evidence.”
- Dawkins compared religion to fairy stories that children learn like Santa claus and the tooth fairy. It’s an unscientific and childish attempt to explain reality.
- X: see flash card 15
7
Q
Dawkins: faith as infantile, irrational and non-thinking
A
- Dawkins argues that religion bad for society because encourages irrational thinking.
- It encourages people to take things on faith instead of reason and evidence.
- Dawkins points to the story of the doubting Thomas, Jesus’ disciple who didn’t believe he had risen until being shown the evidence of his wounds from the crucifixion.
- Jesus implied that his other disciples was better than Thomas because their faith was so strong that they didn’t need evidence.
- This encourages an unscientific mindset.
- “Faith is the great cop-out, excuse’‘
- RESPONSE - McGrath: To defend the rationality of religious belief, McGrath points to Aquinas’ 5 ways, explaining that they were meant to show the “inner consistency of belief in God”
- His 5 ways may not prove the truth of God, but they do show that a logical rational argument for God’s existence can be made and believed in. Belief in God can therefore be rational.
8
Q
Religion and belief as a source of well-being
A
- Both Frued and Dawkins argue that relgion harms the human mind and that people would be happier without christianity
- As a consequence they emphaises parental control over the upbringing of their children
- However, science journalist Jo Marchant presents evidence, others found religion, to have positive medical effect and psychological benefits.
- Marchant highlights practices such as belief in a loving God, prayerful stillness, is as beneficial to mental and physical well-being.
- Scientists studying loneliness have found that social connections and a belief in the transcendent contribute to happier and longer lives,
- providing comfort and resilience in the face of adversity.
9
Q
Progmatic secularism & France
keyword
A
- it’s is the role of the state should be purely secular. All religious views should be excluded from public institutions such as governments and schools
- FRANCE: The French principle of la laicite/laicite was enshrined in French law which officially separated the state and religions.
- This has been very controversial
- The French government banned the wearing of any conspicuous religious symbols in state schools which many people argued was a violation of their human right to express one’s beliefs.
-e.g. Not allowed large crosses, headscarf and turbans
10
Q
Whether christianity should play no part in public life
A
- French secularism, emphasises the absence of religious involvement in government affairs and prohibits religious influence over public matters.
- this led to the removal of state-funded Christian schools in France and the banning of religious symbols and clothing in public spaces.
- The concept of separation of Church and State is also present in the constitutions of other countries like the USA, promoting a secular government without religious influence in public affairs.
- Pillarisation (refers to the segregation of a society) in the Netherlands divided society vertically into different Christian denominations, each with its own social, educational, and political institutions.
- Although the formal structure of pillarisation has diminished, its effects are still evident in Dutch society, where religion remains present in public life, and different groups have varying attitudes towards religion.
11
Q
keyword
Procedural secularism
A
The role of the state should be to take into account the interests of all its citizens & their insitutions, meaning that it should not give preference to religion but to treat it equally along with other institutions
12
Q
Is Britain secular?
A
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Jose Casanova identifies some ways and practises in modern society
1. “The decline of belief… is a normal universal, human development process” = maybe yes, according to the 2014 British Social Attitudes survey, more people claim to be non-religious than Christian
2. - relgion should be private = Britain is not secular because major national events, such as Remembrance Day, involve religions and religious organisations are permitted to support public services (for example, churches sponsor schools) - the state should be inclusive (tolerant) with other religions
A rise of spirituality: an example of society as chistianity declines:
- Heelas + Woodhead:
- They claim that the traditional bond between Christianity & British culture is declining & that alternative spirituality is flourishing/popularised - NAM, NRM’S = could talk aboutthe oppression/double alientaion women experience
13
Q
evaluation: Is Britain secular?
A
- However the majority of the world’s population still claim to adhere to a religion and due to immigration this has brought many new faiths to Britain.
- Therefore Charles Taylor in ‘Secular Age’ suggests that the presumption that a government will be Christian and so will the state and people within it, has been replaced with a plural religious situation.
14
Q
The debate over the harmfulness of religion
A
- dawkins said that God is the ‘most unpleasant character in all of fiction’ and an ‘ethnic cleanser … misogynistic, homophobic, racist, genocidal” – Dawkins.
- God is a terrible person who encourages prejudice and violence.
- It encourages you to view those who aren’t in your religion as different.
- Dawkins says this makes religion dangerous and can even cause war.
- For example, Catholics and protestants have had many horrific conflicts throughout history.
- Dawkins recommends we replace religion with secular humanism, which is a way of having moral values without religion
15
Q
Evaluation of the debate over the harmfulness of religion
A
- McGrath says Dawkins unfairly focuses on extremists and fundamentalists – but most Christians are not prejudiced or violent.
- We could add: look at all the good charity work that religion inspires. It is a statistical fact that religious people give more to charity than non-religious people.
