The Silence of the Secularism Issue
http://aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=2&id=5018
[excerpt]
Last week, I referred to only one aspect of the problem and this was
related to the structure and the nature of the modern nation-state. Yet,
some commentators thought that I deliberately avoided discussing the
concept of secularism, which is regarded by some as the intellectual and
the institutional framework of the relationship between religion and the
state in the modern political practice. In fact, this concept conceals as
much as it reveals. Moreover, it is often employed in varied contexts and
trends beyond the apparent similarity of western modern states.
In this regard, I would like to draw attention to what Jose Casanova wrote
about in three different cases that are often mixed up concerning the
common image of secularism. These are:
-Secularism being the separation between civil society and religious
concepts and institutions
-Secularism as a feature of the withdrawal of religious rituals and beliefs
from the public sphere
-Secularism as a feature of withdrawal of religion from the private sphere
These three different cases are not necessarily linked but are rather
separate and vary according to context even in the western world and within
the varied European context itself. Each of these three cases or phenomena
has its own conditional reasons and defining factors. It is true that the
separation between the church and state is a general phenomenon including
all western countries. However, in some countries this separation did not
necessarily imply the withdrawal of religious feelings or rituals or their
restriction to individual consciousness.
In some countries such as Spain, the church combated political and the
cultural modernity which led to the retreat of religion from the public
sphere. In other places, such as Poland, the Church played a pivotal role
in fighting despotism, therefore became a forum of enlightenment for civil
society and witnessed a clear religious revival.
Moreover, there is a great difference between the Protestant Church, which
played a major role in advancing secularism by coexisting with the
consecutive modernist waves, and the Catholic Church in Southern Europe,
which had great difficulty accepting and absorbing modernist values and
concepts.
[end excerpt]
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You are invited to check out the following:
The Rise of the Theocratic States of America
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocracy.htm
American Theocrats - Past and Present
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocrats.htm
The Constitutional Principle: Separation of Church and State
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
[and to join the discussion group for the above site and/or Separation of
Church and State in general, listed below]
HRSepCnS · Hampton Roads [Virginia] SepChurch&State
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HRSepCnS/
[Its not just Hampton Roads folks who are members, there are members from
all over the US and a couple from overseas as well]
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.. . . You can't understand a phrase such as "Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion" by syllogistic reasoning. Words
take their meaning from social as well as textual contexts, which is why "a
page of history is worth a volume of logic." New York Trust Co. v. Eisner,
256 U.S. 345, 349, 41 S.Ct. 506, 507, 65 L.Ed. 963 (1921) (Holmes, J.).
Sherman v. Community Consol. Dist. 21, 980 F.2d 437, 445 (7th Cir. 1992)
.. . .
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USAF LT. COL (Ret) Buffman (Glen P. Goffin) wrote
"You pilot always into an unknown future;
facts are your only clue. Get the facts!"
That philosophy 'snipit' helped to get me, and my crew, through a good
many combat missions and far too many scary, inflight, emergencies.
It has also played a significant role in helping me to expose the
plethora of radical Christian propaganda and lies that we find at
almost every media turn.
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THE CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLE:
SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
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