Secularism

Secularism is a philosophical and political principle that seeks to organise human affairs on the basis of naturalistic and material considerations rather than religious authority or doctrine. It is most commonly associated with the separation of religion from the institutions of government but extends more broadly to efforts to limit or minimise the influence of religion in public life. Secularism may coexist with religious belief and practice, and many proponents view it as a framework that protects both religious freedom and freedom from religion.

Forms and Variations of Secularism

Secularism takes diverse forms across societies, reflecting cultural, historical, and political differences. Political secularism encompasses theories that define how states regulate religion and maintain neutrality among belief systems. Members of majority religions often resist political secularism, while minority groups and non-religious individuals typically favour it due to its emphasis on equality.
Three broad models are commonly identified:

• Strict secularism, associated most strongly with the French laïcité model, supports a state that is formally and actively separated from all religious and anti-religious positions in its official activities.
• Secular humanist or rationalist secularism emphasises evidence-based policy and human welfare. While indifferent to religion, it advocates non-discrimination between religious and non-religious worldviews and promotes governance rooted in reason and shared human needs.
• Liberal or pillarised secularism, seen in German-speaking and Benelux countries, allows governments to support or fund religious and non-religious organisations provided that all are treated equally. Under such arrangements, secular humanist groups may receive similar state support as religious bodies.

In India, the term pseudosecularism is sometimes used pejoratively to suggest that state policies claiming neutrality in fact favour a particular religious community.
Across these variations, core principles recur: legal equality regardless of religion, separation of civil authority from religious institutions, and an insistence that government may regulate actions but not beliefs. Secularism also supports freedom of thought, civil peace, and tolerance for differing levels of religious piety, alongside the protection of individual conscience.

Philosophical Foundations

As a philosophy, secularism interprets life and ethics through the lens of the natural world, without reliance on supernatural or revealed principles. It shifts attention from religious explanations to temporal, material, and human concerns. While often associated with atheism or naturalism, secularism does not inherently oppose religion; many religious thinkers have endorsed secular principles to safeguard pluralism or prevent clerical dominance.
Modern discussions of secularism encompass anticlericalism, non-sectarian neutrality, and both religious and non-religious arguments for limiting the power of religious institutions. The philosophical breadth of secularism enables cooperation between religious and non-religious supporters who favour civil equality and institutional neutrality.

Historical Development

Elements of secular thought can be traced to the ancient world, including societies such as Ancient Greece, where civic governance frequently operated separately from religious ritual. Secularism also appears within religious traditions: the Bible features distinctions between sacred and worldly spheres, and the medieval Christian Church recognised categories such as secular clergy.
Many influential contributions to secularist thought came from theologians and Christian writers. Figures including St Augustine, William of Ockham, Marsilius of Padua, Martin Luther, Roger Williams, John Locke, and Talleyrand helped articulate ideas that later shaped modern secular governance. During the early modern period, functional differentiation saw religion become one explanatory framework among others rather than the dominant lens through which all aspects of life were interpreted.
In 1636, Roger Williams founded the Providence Plantations—an early North American settlement based on complete religious freedom. Enlightenment Europe saw growing tensions between secular and religious perspectives, culminating in the French Revolution, which briefly replaced Catholicism with the deistic Cult of Reason.
The term secularism was first employed in a modern sense by the British writer George Holyoake in 1851. He proposed a naturalistic framework that allowed cooperation between believers and non-believers, distinguishing secularism from explicit atheism.
During the twentieth century, many predominantly Christian societies experienced declining levels of religious adherence. Sociologists continue to debate whether this represents a long-term trend or periodic fluctuation. In 1905, France formally enshrined laïcité into law. In Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s reforms established laiklik as a state ideology aiming to modernise the country, drawing initially on French models. Although contested, Turkey remains one of the few Muslim-majority nations with a functioning secular state.
India adopted secularism upon independence in 1947, promoting religious equality under the law. Mahatma Gandhi supported a pluralist conception of secularism to manage the country’s religious diversity. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) codified freedom of religion in international law, reinforcing secular governance as a global human rights principle.

Secularism in the Modern State

In political practice, secularism denotes efforts to separate religious authority from government institutions. This separation may include:

• reducing legal or constitutional ties with a state religion
• replacing religiously derived legal codes (such as Sharia, Halakha, or Dharmashastra) with civil law
• preventing religious discrimination in public institutions
• protecting individuals’ freedom to hold or change beliefs

Secularisation in public policy often involves laicisation—the transfer of functions from religious to civil authorities. Modern secular states may differ in the degree and method of religion–state separation, but all share the aim of safeguarding public order, legal equality, and freedom of conscience.
Secularism remains a dynamic and sometimes contested principle. Debates continue over its scope, especially in societies with strong religious traditions or rising religious pluralism. Nonetheless, secularism persists as a key framework for managing religious diversity, promoting state neutrality, and supporting democratic governance.