Why Secularism Can Be Good For Religion

In my next book on religious freedom in a secular age I argue that secularism is not the bogeyman we should be afraid of, rather, secularism is a good thing.

Secularism is about creating space for people of all faiths and none. It prevents a country from becoming a theocracy which is just as bad for government as it is for religion and it also prevents the government from telling you how to do your religion.

Note also that secularism is not one thing. There are also different versions of secularism. The United Kingdom is now a multi-cultural country with a secular government, however, the government still appoints bishops in the Church of England. Then there is France, Poland, Turkey, Thailand, and Japan, all with very different arrangements for how religions interact with society and government. Even in the USA, the secularity of Dallas is different to the secularity of Boston. So secularism can be done differently depending on your local history, demographics, culture, and style of government.

But secularism is good since it expressly prohibits the state regulation of religion and it does allow some degree of religious involvement in the public square and even in cooperation with government. Yet that is precisely the complicating factor, the barrier between church and state can be blurry as it can be permeable.

In a recent book by Jacques Berlinerblau called Secularism: The Basics, he argues that:

“For modern political secularisms, scripture and revelation are irrelevant. A good government runs on reason, not on passion. It bases its decisions on logic, not prayerful emotion. Science and data are the drivers of public policy, not biblical verses or suras from the Quran.”

I would disagree with that point because as much as we might like or dislike it, there is always going to be a subtle link between religion and government. Let me explain why.