Knowra Secularity Secularity Secularity is the condition of organizing public life and institutions without religious authority or control. It can describe political arrangements, social conditions, or ways of understanding the world.
Theocracy : A system of government in which religious authorities or religious law govern political life. Theocracy places religious authority in government, unlike secular organization of public institutions.
Separation of church and state : A political principle that keeps religious institutions and government institutionally distinct. This arrangement is one common way to secure secular public institutions.
Peace of Westphalia : The 1648 treaties that ended the Thirty Years’ War and reshaped political authority in Europe. Its settlement strengthened territorial rulers’ control over religious policy, an early shift toward state authority.
Secularization : The process by which religious institutions, practices, or beliefs lose social influence or public prominence. Secularity is a condition; secularization describes changes that may lead to it but do not always do so.
Secularism : A principle or movement advocating separation of religious authority from public institutions or government. Secularity describes a condition; secularism is a principle or program that may seek to produce it.
Freedom of religion : The right to hold, change, practice, or reject religious beliefs without coercion. Protecting religious freedom lets secular institutions avoid enforcing a single faith.
English Civil War : A series of conflicts from 1642 to 1651 over monarchy, Parliament, and religious and political authority in England. Its struggles over church and state helped shape later arguments for toleration and civil government.
Public education : Education provided or regulated by public authorities, typically through schools serving a broad population. Secular public schooling raises questions about religious instruction and shared civic curricula.
Laïcité : A French model of secular governance emphasizing state neutrality and limits on religious expression in public institutions. Laïcité is a specific, historically shaped approach to organizing secularity.
Religious freedom : The protection of belief, worship, and religious practice from coercion or unjust restriction. Its legal guarantees shape how secular states accommodate religious communities.
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