Thoughts on Religion, Secularism and Atheism
When I recall our last Syrian Bloggers Meetup… I remember one really important topic that didn’t take much attention..
it was the difference between Secularism and Atheism…
it was briefly discussed at the meetup.. but I think it’s a really important topic… especially for a society that widely accepts words like Secular and Atheist as a slander… even worse, a society that has no differntiation between the two concepts…
Longman Dictionary For Contemperary English… defines both concepts as followed..
Atheism: the belief that God does not exist.
Secularism: a system of social organization that does not allow religion to influence the government, or the belief that religion should not influence a government.
The difference is bright and clear… Secularism doesn’t necessarily mean Atheism… it’s just a way of keeping ur belief from affecting other ppl and harming the community as whole… and when u believe in Secularism, it doesn’t mean that u have to leave ur believes behind.. it’s simply a way of saying that belief is sth between u and ur God, Aura, Satan, SuperPower.. Sun, Moon… whatever u believe [or DON'T believe] in… it’s not sth u can reflect on ur community…
Secularism is the only social system [til now] that DOES protect the rights of a very big group of humans called Atheists…
All religions and beliefs [without exception] are exclusive and expulsive… and no matter how tolerant that religion or belief is, non of em actually admits to Atheists the same rights as believers…
Because all beliefs and religions [at least that I know of...] have the whole truth, and this truth is NOT negotiable, and when someone believes he has the WHOLE truth, it becomes very easy for him to justify the killing, torturing, repression…. of anyone who doesn’t share his belief in this Truth…
I’m not saying that we should put religion down… I still believe that religion has much more to give… human beings owe a lot of their development to religion.. examples r very clear, we saw how the belief in Islam turned bedouins into statesmen to a super power at that time… Shinto in Japan still drives japanese into more work everyday… I believe, Religion as a concept hasn’t finished his journey yet… and I don’t think it will… but it is time for this concept to evolve as a whole.. and reconcile with human-beings as a whole too…
August 1st, 2005 at 12:49 am
Religions are meant to free us! However, we made them our jailors!
August 1st, 2005 at 1:15 am
wazzup??!!just droppin by to say that you got a wonderful blog. i think you should post more! look into my profile and see my blogs too..and why don’t you add spice on my blogs?isn’t it so nice to exchange thoughts?
August 1st, 2005 at 9:07 am
I see secularism as a great way to protect the rights of non-believers and believers as well.
Not all believers are religious. Not all believers have centerd their lives around their religion. That’s a thing many people (especially religious people) forget about.
August 2nd, 2005 at 5:20 pm
There’s also deism, which is I guess, according to these definitions, a part of secularism.
August 2nd, 2005 at 5:50 pm
yeah, I think deism belongs under secularism… I think it’s the spiritual side of secularism…
August 2nd, 2005 at 6:55 pm
Thank you! You’ve cleared up a lot for me. Here in America, secular is such an evil thing, but if these people actually sat down and read our Constitution they would see that is a secular piece of work. And that’s good. Maybe then they wouldn’t be invading all non-Jewish Middle East (that’s you) nations to try to recreate Biblical lands so that Jesus can come back and take them to Heaven.
It’s nice to know there’s people who think like me all over the world.
http://unbrainwashed.blogspot.com