The term '''secular''' is generally used to mean "worldly, as differentiated from ecclesiastical." The term has changed meaning dramatically over time. Its original definition preserved its Latin meaning - "of an age" - as evinced in the [[Secular Games]], or the [[Carmen Secularae]] ("Song of the Augustan Age" by Horace.
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The term '''secular''' is generally used to mean "worldly, as differentiated from ecclesiastical." The term has changed meaning dramatically over time. Its original definition preserved its Latin meaning - "of an age" - as evinced in the [[Secular Games]], or the [[Carmen Secularae]] ("Song of the Augustan Age") by Horace.
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The term carries a pejorative meaning in conservative circles, by inflating its definition - "worldly" - to mean instead, "utterly worldly, bereft of God."
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The term is misused by [[atheists]] who do not want to admit how they impose their belief system in public institutions. Secular really means including religion, but the distortion of the term gives it a connotation of exclusion of religion, as in "utterly worldly, bereft of God."