Secularism will survive. The question
is whether it will survive through a reasoned political process or
only after religious sectarian strife. As I use it here, secularism
refers to a governmental system that restricts its governing to
secular matters securing the public good—such as, life, liberty,
and the pursuit of happiness. Secular governments do not legislate
(or even foster) matters of faith; faith belongs in the hearts of
individuals, not in the seats of power. I must be clear—secular
states are not godless states; secularism is not equal to atheism. In
fact, only secular states will protect the deep beliefs of the
faithful, and that’s why secularism must survive in an age of
piety.
The idea of a secular state was born
during the Reformation, a time of evangelical faith. In 1521, Martin
Luther stood before the representatives of a government that tried to
force him to obey the combined weight of civil and religious
authority. Yet he stood his ground, following the commands of his
deep faith against the governmental forces arrayed against him. This
moment, which began the history of the Protestant churches that are
so influential in America today, planted the seeds for the secular
state.
How did this man of deep faith
eventually serve as a catalyst for the secular state? Only after
violent religious warfare in Germany and elsewhere (the Thirty Years’
War, for example, from 1618–1648) convinced the exhausted
combatants that you can’t fight faith with weapons. This is what
the Sunni and Shi’ite Muslims in Iraq today will learn if each
group tries to establish a theocracy of its own faith. This is what
the Founding Fathers of America knew as they established a separation
of church and state in a constitution that does not legislate for
religion at all. The secular state is one of the few forms of
government that allows people to follow their consciences and seek
God through whatever path they will.
The idea of a secular state was
developed in the West by deeply religious people who wanted to have
freedom of religion. That secular states also protect people who are
atheist, agnostic, or simply disinterested in religion is merely a
by-product of the desire on the part of the religious to worship
freely. I am fully confident that, in time, the faithful will once
again see that their safety lies in secularism.
Joyce E. Salisbury is Professor Emerita
of History and Humanities at the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay.
She is the author of many books on medieval and religious history,
including, most recently, The Blood of Martyrs: Unintended
Consequences of Ancient Violence.
CFI SUMMIT
OCTOBER 24-27 2013
TACOMA, WASHINGTON
Joint Conference of the Council for Secular Humanism, Center for Inquiry, and Committee for Skeptical Inquiry
The transnational secular humanist magazine
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