Secularism: Science vs. Religion?

Secularism comes from the Latin world saeculum, which means “world.” It implies a focus on this world, without reference to values or entities beyond this world. It seeks to create political institutions that are independent of any established religion.

Secularism is not intended to obliterate religion. In it’s political form it was actually developed for the purpose of protecting religion, and to reduce religious conflict, as well as to enable all religions to flourish.

For Christianity this challenge is primarily apparent in politics and in relationship to science. Fundamental Christians continue to fight for the Intelligent Design Theory to be taught in public schools. Abortion and gay marriage are currently the two hot political topics that reflect this challenge. There are many others, such as stem cell research and euthanasia, but these have not yet been widely established enough or as commonly accepted practice to warrant the same attention as abortion and gay marriage.

The Christian argument against gay marriage has no merit except when referring to it’s own scriptures. There is no other evidence that suggests that gay people should not have all of the same legal rights as heterosexual people. As a person who approves of secularism, this bothers me quite a bit.

Abortion on the other hand, does have evidence outside of scriptures as being morally and ethically wrong. There is much scientific evidence that supports that a fetus is a human life form, and therefore abortion is murder. This can be argued without relying on religion. Personally, I am pro-choice, but I still think that abortion is murder. I just see it as the lesser of two evils when it comes to situations of abuse and domestic violence. I also do not support abortion after 3 months gestation.

In regards to the challenge between science and Christianity, the problem is two sided. Christians want to refute scientists who say there is no evidence of God. They shouldn't. They should accept the difference between fact and faith, between physical matter and the mystery of what makes matter alive. Someone who relies solely on logic and reason does not have the capacity to accept anything spiritual.

I do not believe that science in and of itself actually threatens religion. I also do not believe that the theory of evolution, if accepted by one as truth is any evidence whatsoever that God does not exist, or that there is no intelligent design.

I had my own personal epiphany when reading the first chapter of Genesis once, when reading "And God said, "Let there be light, and there was light," Gen 1:3, and the following description of the expanses, "And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water..." Gen 1:6, my brain lit up with excitement, "This is the story of the Big Bang!" If God made the universe, than science is only our observations of God's creation.

Scientists argue there is no evidence of God, and so far they are right, but science is a long way away from explaining all of the mysteries in the universe.

Christians do however weaken their position when they blatantly refuse to accept scientific evidence when it is right under their nose. Refusal to examine such evidence at all in favor of claiming blind faith is just plain ignorance, and indicates a very weak foundation in the proclaimed faith. Isn't God bigger than all of us? What do we have to fear by examination?

Perhaps as science and societies progress, as humans learn to be less superstitious and more accepting of new discoveries, we will be able to put religion in its proper place, which is in the heart. I am not saying people shouldn't practice or gather or be involved in the community, but I do think that religion should not be the basis for policy and lawmaking.

Secularism poses a much bigger challenge to Islam. Islam is in and of itself a theocratic religion. It was Muhammed’s goal to create a theocracy wherein there was no line between religion and politics or law. To create a secular government, which Turkey has come closest to, would in and of itself seem to be directly disobeying God and the Qur’an.

The modern world has embraced secularism as an inherently appropriate ideology, and strives to have politics and law reflect this ideal. The American ideal of separation of church and state that was embedded into our constitution is almost held as sacred to Americans. With the exception of a few radical fundamentalists, it is accepted and agreed upon that this separation is vital to democracy.

Part of the struggle of the Islamic world in the middle east today has to do with the idea of a caliph as the ideal leader. A caliph is a representative of God on earth and governs the Islamic nations. In part because of the separation and spread of Muslim nations, there has been great conflict over who a caliph should be, and what a caliph should do.

In Muhammed’s plan, there would be one caliph for the entire nation of Islam. The closest comparison in the western world is the Pope who dictates religious moral code to the entire Roman Catholic church. This became impractical as Islam spread so far from its origin, that several caliphs were appointed to govern different regions or countries.

The biggest challenge today is to appoint leaders of Islamic nations that operate with integrity and who are qualified to interact with the rest of the world regarding international affairs, yet adhere to and enforce the moral law that is essential to Islam. There is also a very real need to somehow unify the Muslim nations in order to interrupt the conflicts between Muslim nations. Who in the world can take this on?

It seems to me that the Jewish tradition has held up most intact in spite of secularism. In fact, many Jews today are secular and religious at the same time. It is the core belief that right acts are more important than right beliefs that I think is responsible for this stability. Judaism has been threatened by outside influences more than it has by intrinsic influences. The Jewish ideal of social justice is clearly a factor in the ability of Jews to thrive in a secular world. Political conflict in the middle east is strong though, especially between Israel and Palestine. These conflicts are more about birth-rights and claims to land each perceives as promised by God.

Perhaps too the terrible tragedy of the Holocaust is a factor in Jewish secularism. Once rescued from the concentration camps, many became refugees and took shelter wherever they could. The need to heal and to survive surpassed the need to squabble about differences in interpretations of scripture. Many Jews were united by this terrible suffering, where they might have conflicted before.