Essay on Secularization

Secular humanist believe the starting point of life is nothing breathtaking. The Human life is a result of a great many years of advancement that can be explained through the theory of evolution. There is no god who made life, and that religion is nothing more than the fears of mankind. Secular humanist utilize science, intelligence, and individual feelings as the answer for life’s most troublesome questions.

What is Secular Humanism? It is humanism, with regard to the belief that humanity is capable of morality and self-fulfillment without belief in God. Christian worldviews are based on the bible, we believe that God created the all. Secular Humanist are critical thinkers, focused on modern beliefs without having any religious ties. “Many Christians and proponents of secular humanism share a commitment to reason, free inquiry, the separation of church and state, the ideal of freedom, and moral education; however, they differ in many areas. Secular humanists base their morality and ideas about justice on critical intelligence unaided by Scripture, which Christians rely on for knowledge concerning right and wrong, good and evil.” (3)

3. Relationship to theme: Scientific discoveries led to a more secularized view of the world. People no

Weber argued that modern societies are characterized increasingly by a process of rationalization meaning that the world is increasingly governed by rationality in which tradition and affective forms of action are replaced by predominantly rational forms. This leads to disenchantment being seen as secularization, including the progressive disposal of non-rational elements from all spheres of life.  Weber feared that this process of rationalization would drive out the warmth and humanity of social life, the very things that give meaning to human existence.

In contrast to the humanist’s worldview that everything happened by chance, Christians believe that from the beginning, everything that exists, including humans was the result of God. Now Christians do believe in micro-evolution, also known as adaption, where an animal can endure some changes to help itself adapt to a different condition, but will never form into a different species. There is still no scientific evidence that can prove otherwise. God made sure of this when he was creating all living things that he kept all species “according to its kind” (Genesis 1:21-25).

Freedom of Religion is the freedom to pursue any religion you choose without fear of government persecution, sanction or reprisal. Freedom of Religion is protected under the first amendment, which gives American citizens the right to freedom of “speech, religion, press and to assemble and petition”. When the founders wrote it in the Bill of Rights, they put it first for a reason. The original pilgrims fled England after facing religious persecution from the Church of England. Over the years, America still struggles to define what that means. Though we are still arguing, the definitions are surprisingly easy for something that has been argued over so much.

The Enlightenment of the 18th century evolved due to the many changes brought about by the Scientific Revolution. With all of the new scientific discoveries, new thought processes were developed. The scientists of the Scientific Revolution brought about revolutionary change. These scientists inspired the philosophes of the Enlightenment to challenge the ways of the "Old Regime" and question the ideas of the church. Philosophers such as Francois Voltaire, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and John Locke published their controversial ideas and these ideas along with some important political action, helped to mold a new type of society. The new society was one that tolerated different religious beliefs. "The minds of men, abandoning the old disciplines

Assess the arguments and evidence for the view that Britain is becoming a secular society

“Religion is a ritualized system of beliefs and practices related to things defined as sacred by an organized community of believers.” (Basirico et.al. 379). Religion is an important element in the society because it influences the way individuals act and think. It has shaped the relationship and bonding among families as well as influenced the decision made in economics and politics. Religion in general has contributed to shape a society and a government structure which will influence the way the individuals under certain governmental structure behave. Sociologists are interested in religion mainly because religious belief is heavily rooted in individuals’ lives and it helps sociologists to interpret human’s actions, expression, and

Clark, Anna. The Struggle for the Breeches: Gender and the Making of the British Working

Modernity, it is a macro process of transition from traditional to modern society. “Formation of a modern political map of the world began in early 1800 in Western Europe and maybe characterized as the product of the twin revolutions.” European colonization of the New World, the economic and political development of new territories led to significant changes in the political map. Modernity it is a complex of multi-faceted process that took a place in Europe during the 18th century and had covered all aspects of society. The modernity of the production meant the industrialization - is constantly growing use of machines. In the social sphere modernization is closely linked with urbanization, an unprecedented growth of cities, which led to prevailing in the economic life of society. In the political sphere modernity meant the democracy of political structures, laying the preconditions for the formation of a civil society and rule of law. In the spiritual realm associated with secularization -: the release of all spheres of public and private life from the separation of religion and the church, their worldliness and intensive development of literacy, education, scientific knowledge. All of these are inextricably linked to each other processes of change emotional attitudes of man,

All systems of thought and each worldview have a notion of God. Secular humanism is defined as a belief system where humanity is the sovereign of all beings, and where reality and information rests in science and reason. The secular humanistic worldview started as a substitute among religions. Humanism is not a religious belief system in itself, while secular means “not religious.” A religion is any system of belief that informs an individual’s worldview. The secular humanistic worldview has a distinctive belief on many disciplines such as theology, ethics, and evolution among others. Thus, the thesis of this paper is; the secular humanism worldview is religious, as secular humanists uphold beliefs and values that hold them with dedication. The purpose of this research paper is to discuss whether the secular humanistic worldview is indeed religious and how it has influenced the American Culture. Secular humanism is nontheistic and religious because it directs itself towards beliefs and practices that are in active opposition to customary theism. According to the Humanistic Manifestos I and II, secular humanism is a religious and philosophical moral point of view (House 381).

We all have some experience with religion. Whether our parents are religious, our own religious views, or others who try and convert you to a religion, we have all come in contact with a religion. But what do sociology and religion have to do with each other? The answer to this question is that religion meets sociology in the affects that it has on an individual or society (Schaefer, Richard T, 2009, pg 323).

As Peter Berger (1967) explained religion, it is a sacred canopy under which the entirety of life is explained and regulated. Secularization theory as explained by Weber holds that modernity challenges this sacred canopy through two major ways: increased cultural and structural pluralism and increased primacy of economic pursuits (Emerson and Hartman, 2006:129). With globalisation accelerating in the post Cold War era, causing mass migration across borders, increased interstate interaction and huge growth in the global financial market, it was predicted that religious influence would be relegated to the private sectors of social life by ripping the sacred canopy, and leaving people with, at best, sacred umbrellas (Smith 1998). Despite this, what secularization theory did not anticipate is that the demystification of the world provided within it the seeds both for the re-mystification of the world and resistance to the demystification (Berger, 1992:1). Hence the world today, with some exceptions, is as furiously religious as it ever was, in some places more so than ever (Berger, 1999:8). Since the 1970s there has been a particular rise in religious fundamentalist movements, as signalled by the Iranian Revolution in 1979 led by Ayatollah Khomeini, which led to the establishment of the first Islamic State. As Almond et al note, fundamentalist movements have risen to the highest levels of power in Sudan in 1993, Afghanistan and India in 1996, and in India again

We need to pay close attention to the effects of secularism: confining the role of religion to the private domain of the individual and creating a dichotomy between "religious" and "worldly," between "private" and "public." It denies religion and its mediating institutions any public function and influence in shaping matters of public policy.