Secularism
SecularismSecularism and the Political Party: When Movements OrganiseSecular political parties have tried to institutionalise the separation of religion and state — with mixed, instructive results.
SecularismSecularism and the Calendar: Whose Year Does the State Keep?Public calendars embed religious assumptions so deeply that most citizens never notice them — and secularism has yet to settle what fairness requires.
SecularismSecularism and the Workplace: Accommodation Without PrivilegeWhen employees request religious exemptions at work, secular legal frameworks must balance genuine accommodation against fairness to everyone else.
SecularismSecularism and the Census: How States Count ReligionWhen governments ask citizens about religion, the question is never neutral — the design of the question shapes what the data can and cannot tell us.
SecularismSecularism and the Public University: Where Neutrality Gets TestedPublic universities claim institutional neutrality on religion, but funding decisions, campus speech, and curriculum design reveal how hard that neutrality is to hold.
SecularismSecularism and the Recognition of New ReligionsWhen the state must decide what counts as a religion, it faces a problem that secular neutrality alone cannot solve.
SecularismSecularism and the Dying: End-of-Life Law in a Religious SocietyWhen the state sets the rules around dying, religious assumptions often shape the law in ways that harm those with no faith commitments at all.
SecularismSecularism and the Legal Status of Religious DivorceWhen religious tribunals govern marriage dissolution, secular states face a genuine tension between autonomy, equality, and non-establishment.
SecularismChurch–State Separation and Democratic ValuesWhy keeping religious authority out of government is foundational to pluralist democracy — and protective of faith itself.
SecularismBuilding an Ethical Framework Without ReligionSecular ethics isn't a vacuum. It's a system built from reason, empathy, and the social contract — and it underwrites much of modern law.
SecularismSecularism and the Oath: When the State Asks You to SwearOaths of office and legal testimony still carry religious language in many democracies. What does that reveal about secular commitments?
SecularismSecularism and the Education of Religious MinoritiesWhen secular states design public school curricula, they face a genuine tension between neutrality and the claims of minority religious communities.
SecularismSecular Chaplaincy: What Nonreligious Pastoral Care Looks LikeHospitals, prisons, and militaries increasingly employ secular chaplains. What they do challenges assumptions about what pastoral care requires.
SecularismSecularism and the Funding of Faith: Where the Line FallsWhen public money flows to religious organizations, secularism is tested in its most concrete form. The debates are harder than they look.
SecularismSecularism as a Procedural Value, Not a Metaphysical OneSecularism is often treated as a philosophical worldview. It works better understood as a set of institutional procedures that benefit everyone.
SecularismSecularism in Muslim-Majority Democracies: A Contested HistoryTurkey, Tunisia, and Indonesia show that secular governance in Muslim-majority states follows no single path and resists easy Western narratives.
SecularismHow Secular Institutions Handle Sacred Symbols in Public SpacesWhen governments display religious symbols, courts and legislatures must decide what counts as harm and who gets to say so.
SecularismSecularism Is Not Atheism: A Distinction Worth MakingSecularism concerns the governance of public institutions, not personal belief. Conflating the two weakens both causes.