Secularism Vs. Religion in the Modern Age

Secularism vs. Religion in the Modern Age

Thesis Statement:

Prior to the Modern Age, religion played a large role in the affairs of the state and in the lives of the people. This role, however, has continuously been challenged by the rise of secularism and the prevalence of humanist value systems during the Modern Age. The separation of the church and state marks the beginning of the Modern Age, and the present decadence of religion as a societal institution in nearly all industrialized/Westernized nations is apparent. Secularism and religion are now perceived as being constantly at odds with each other as a result, largely because of the conflicting value systems presented by both viewpoints. Values of critical thinking and scientific inquiry, for example, have more leverage than (blind) faith and claims based on tradition; the acquisition of knowledge, not faith in a divine being, marks the nations' perceptions and efforts towards progress. A schism in the modern paradigm ensues: the deep and current incongruence between both worldviews epitomizes the Modern Age's two binary paradigms that are continuously conflated and pitted against each other in the modern imagination.

Primary Sources:

Scheb, J.M., II & Stephens, O.H., Jr. (2006). Separation of church and state. In Encyclopaedia of American Civil Rights and Liberties: (Vol. 3). USA: Greenwood.

The article presents the history of the separation of church and state, a monumental move that originated in Western society that marks the beginning of the Modern Age. It summarizes key historical and philosophical details which led to the separation, as well as recent struggles with the concept in modern society. It highlights the rise of Classical Liberalism, which refocuses the flow of national sovereignty from divine rule to popular needs, rights and claims, as the primary factor of the transition and in response to church-led persecutions before and during the Iron Age. This move marks the beginning of democracy as we know it. The source would be vital to the paper's exposition on the evolution of popular thought, and how it veered away from religions vice grip on pre-Modern nations' socio-political affairs.

Norris, P. & Inglehart, R. (2004). Sacred and secular: Religion and politics worldwide. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

The book offers broad insight on the matter of how political secularism and religion coexist, although in a discrepant relationship, in modern society despite representing both extremes of the modern society's political and social scheme. The book provides rich discourse with regards to the nature of secularization and religion as they are practiced and perceived in society, and does well in giving the matter more dimensions by offering statistical information, social indexes and philosophical discourses from a wide range of views. The book is a good reference with regards to the status of the dynamism between secularism and religion in the modern world, beginning from the spark of the Enlightenment, until the present compromises and incongruence's between the two viewpoints to date.

Secondary Sources:

Bush, E. (2007). Measuring religion in global civil society. Social Forces, 85: 1645-65.

The article identifies the familiar bias that civil society assigns towards