Secularity (adjective form secular) is the state of being separate from religion. A religion is a set of Tenets and practices often centered upon specific Supernatural and moral claims about Reality, the Cosmos ^[1] For instance, eating and bathing may be regarded as examples of secular activities, because there is nothing inherently religious about them. (Note, however, that both eating and bathing are regarded as sacraments by some religious organizations, and therefore would be religious activities in their worldview. A sacrament, as defined in Hexam's Concise Dictionary of Religion is "a Rite in which God is uniquely active ) Saying a prayer derived from religious text or doctrine, worshipping through the context of religion, and attending Sunday School are examples of religious (non-secular) activities. Prayer is the act of attempting to communicate with a Deity or spirit This article refers to the religious act For the album by Michael W " Sunday school " is the generic name for many different types of Religious education pursued on Sundays by various denominations However prayer and meditation are not necessarily non-secular being that the concept of spirituality and higher consciousness are not married solely to any religion but are practiced and arose indepedently across a continuum of cultures.

Most businesses and corporations are secular organizations. A corporation is a separate legal entity usually used to conduct business All state universities in the United States are secular organizations, while some private universities are church-related; among many, four church-related examples are Brigham Young University, University of Notre Dame, Baylor University, and The Catholic University of America. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The University of Notre Dame du Lac (or simply Notre Dame) (ˌnoʊtɚˈdeɪm is a private Roman Catholic Research university located in Baylor University is a private, Baptist -affiliated Research University located in Waco Texas. The Catholic University of America ( CUA) located in Northeast Washington D The public university system in the United Kingdom is also secular, although many primary and secondary schools are religiously aligned.

One approximate synonym for secular is worldly; another could be phrased as neutral in religious matters. Approximate antonyms for secular are religious and devout.

Despite occasional confusion, secularity is not synonymous with atheism. Atheism

Origin of term

This word derives from a Latin word meaning "of the age". Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. The Christian doctrine that God exists outside of time led medieval Western culture to use secular to indicate separation from religious affairs and involvement in worldly (or time-related) ones. Christianity ( Greek Χριστιανισμός from the word Xριστός ( Christ)is a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings While in the popular mind eternity often simply means existing for a limitless amount of Time, many have used it to refer to a timeless existence altogether outside of Western culture (sometimes equated with Western Civilization) are terms which are used to refer to Cultures of European origin This meaning has been extended to apply to separation from any religion, regardless of whether it has a similar doctrine. A religion is a set of Tenets and practices often centered upon specific Supernatural and moral claims about Reality, the Cosmos

Modern usage

Examples of secular used in this way include:

• Secular authority, which involves legal and military authority as opposed to clerical authority, or matters the church controls. Civil authority is that apparatus of the State other than its Military units that enforces law and order.
• Secular clergy in the Roman Catholic Church, who, traditionally, do not live the monastic lives of the regular clergy and are therefore, in a sense, less religious and more worldly. In the Catholic Church, secular clergy are religious ministers such as deacons and priests who do not belong to a religious order. Monasticism (from Greek μοναχός, monachos, derived from Greek monos, alone is the religious practice in which one For a related Roman Catholic reference, see Secular institute. In the Roman Catholic Church, a secular institute is an organization of individuals who are consecrated persons – professing the Evangelical counsels of chastity
• Secular education, schools that are not affiliated with churches or other religious organizations. Secular education is a term that refers to the system of public education in countries with a Secular government or separation between Religion and A church building is a Building or Structure whose primary purpose is to facilitate the meeting of a church. A religion is a set of Tenets and practices often centered upon specific Supernatural and moral claims about Reality, the Cosmos
• Secular governments, which follow civil laws as opposed to religious authorities like the Islamic Shariah, Catholic Canon law, or Jewish Halakha, and which do not favor any particular religion. A secular state is a State or Country that is officially neutral in matters of Religion, neither supporting nor opposing any particular religious beliefs Civil law, as opposed to Criminal law, refers to that branch of Law dealing with disputes between Individuals and/or Organizations, in which For other meanings including people named 'Islam' see Islam (disambiguation. Sharia ( Arabic: ar شريعة) is the body of Islamic Religious law. As a Christian Ecclesiastical term Catholic —from the Greek adjective, meaning "general" or "universal"—is described Canon Law, the Ecclesiastical law of the Catholic Church, is a fully developed legal system with all the necessary elements courts lawyers judges a fully articulated Judaism (from the Greek Ioudaïsmos, derived from the Hebrew יהודה Yehudah, " Judah " in Hebrew יַהֲדוּת Yahedut Halakha ( הלכה; alternative transliterations include Halocho and Halacha) is the collective body of Jewish Religious law
• Secular Jewish culture, cultural manifestations of Jewishness that are not specifically religious. Secular Jewish culture embraces several related phenomena above all it is the Culture of secular communities of Jewish people but it can also include
• Secular music, composed for general use, as opposed to Sacred music which is composed for church use. Secular music is non- Sacred music that developed in the Middle Ages. Religious music (also sacred music) is Music performed or composed for religious use or through religious influence Secular sonatas, in the 17th century, were those which were not composed to be used in church services.
• Secular Organizations for Sobriety, a secular alternative to Alcoholics Anonymous, AA being a loosely religious organization although nondenominational. Alcoholics Anonymous ( AA) is an informal meeting society for recovering and recovered alcoholics, with the stated purpose to help its members "to stay sober and A religion is a set of Tenets and practices often centered upon specific Supernatural and moral claims about Reality, the Cosmos In Christianity, the term non-denominational refers to those churches that have not formally aligned themselves with an established denomination, or remain otherwise
• Secular society refers to aspects of society that are not (mosque, church, synagogue)-affiliated. Secularization or secularisation generally refers to the process of transformation by which a Society migrates from close identification with religious institutions A society is a Population of Humans characterized by patterns of relationships between individuals that share a distinctive Culture and Institutions A "mosque" in English refers to all types of buildings dedicated for Islamic worship although there is a distinction in Arabic between the smaller privately owned mosque and the larger A synagogue (from Greek: grc συναγωγή transliterated synagogē, "assembly" he בית כנסת beit knesset, "house of
• Secular spirituality, the pursuit of spirituality without a formal affiliation with a church or other religious organization. Secular spirituality as a cultural phenomenon refers to the adherence to a spiritual Ideology without the advocation of a religious framework A religion is a set of Tenets and practices often centered upon specific Supernatural and moral claims about Reality, the Cosmos
• Secular state, a nation that has a secular government. A secular state is a State or Country that is officially neutral in matters of Religion, neither supporting nor opposing any particular religious beliefs

Related concepts

• Laïcité is a French concept related to the separation of state and religion, sometimes rendered by the English cognate neologism laicity and also translated by the words secularity and secularization. Laïcité (laisiˈte is the French concept of a Secular society, connoting the absence of religious involvement in government affairs The word laïcité is sometimes characterized as having no exact English equivalent; it is similar to the more moderate definition of secularism, but is not as ambiguous as that word. Secularism is generally the assertion that governmental practices or institutions should exist separately from Religion or religious beliefs

• Secularism is an assertion or belief that religious issues should not be the basis of politics, a movement that promotes those ideas or (in the extreme) an ideology that holds that religion has no place in public life. Secularism is generally the assertion that governmental practices or institutions should exist separately from Religion or religious beliefs Politics Politics is the process by which groups of people make decisions An ideology is a set of beliefs aims and Ideas especially in politics Secularist organizations are distinguished from merely secular ones by their political advocacy of such positions.

• Laïcisme is the French word that most resembles secularism, especially in the latter's extreme definition, as it is understood by the Catholic Church, which sets laïcisme in opposition to the allegedly far milder concept of laïcité. Secularism is generally the assertion that governmental practices or institutions should exist separately from Religion or religious beliefs Laïcité (laisiˈte is the French concept of a Secular society, connoting the absence of religious involvement in government affairs The correspondent word laicism (also spelled laïcism) is sometimes used in English as a synonym for secularism. Secularism is generally the assertion that governmental practices or institutions should exist separately from Religion or religious beliefs

See also

• Separation of church and state
• Anticlericalism

External links

• Conference: Secularity and Religious Vitality
• Secular Student Alliance

Notes