by Barry A. Kosmin, Founding director of the Institute for the Study of Secularism in Society and Culture and research professor of public policy and law at Trinity College.
Secularism, which is the focus of this essay, is an approach, attitude or outlook towards society and the contemporary world. It makes no metaphysical claims. It is not a distinct or complete belief system and is not directly concerned about ultimate truth, matters of faith or spirituality. Thus Secularism is not a personal attribute. Rather, in our definition, it involves collective behavior, organizations and legal constructs that reflect the institutional expressions of the mundane, particularly in the political realm and the public life of a nation. By their nature, these variables are hard to quantify, especially when viewed globally. Nevertheless, in ideological terms we can assert that secularism essentially involves the rejection of the primacy of religious authority in the affairs of this world. This process which is usually referred to as secularization is most evident in the West in the governmental or political realm where the outcome has meant the “desacralization of the state” (Stark and Iannaconne,1994).