Knowra Secularism Secularism Secularism is the principle or movement of separating civic institutions from religious authority or treating religions impartially. Its forms range from institutional separation to state neutrality among faiths and nonbelief.
Separation of church and state : The principle that government and religious institutions should operate as distinct institutions. It is the institutional form of secularism that bars religious bodies from exercising government power.
Peace of Westphalia : The 1648 settlements that ended major European conflicts and shaped the modern state system. Its settlements helped establish the principle that territorial rulers controlled religious arrangements.
Secularization : The social process by which religion's influence or institutional reach declines or changes. Secularism is a political principle; secularization describes broader social change.
United States Constitution : The 1787 framework of the United States government, including its amendments and provisions on religion. Its First Amendment bars religious establishment and protects free exercise.
Religious discrimination : Unequal treatment of people because of their religion, belief, or lack of belief. Secular neutrality is often justified as protection against religious favoritism and exclusion.
State neutrality toward religion : The principle that government should neither favor nor disadvantage religious belief or nonbelief. It describes secularism through equal treatment rather than a strict institutional divide.
Enlightenment : An intellectual movement emphasizing reason, criticism, and reform, especially in eighteenth-century Europe. Enlightenment arguments for reason and conscience informed later defenses of secular government.
Atheism : The absence of belief in any god or gods. Secularism concerns civic arrangements and does not require citizens to be atheists.
First Amendment to the United States Constitution : The constitutional amendment that protects freedoms including religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition. Its religion clauses are a central legal expression of American secularism.
Freedom of conscience : The liberty to form and act on moral or religious convictions without coercion. Secular civic rules aim to keep public membership independent of a prescribed faith.
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