Secular
This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Sakyamuni08 (talk | contribs) at 17:57, December 17, 2008. It may differ significantly from current revision.
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.
The term is euphemistically used by atheists who do not want to admit how they sneakily impose their belief system in public institutions.
The United States was founded as a secular republic - religion is firmly disestablished in the Consitution, and many of the Founding Fathers were secularists.
Further reading
- Emmet Kennedy, "The Tangled History of Secularism," Modern Age (Winter 2000) Volume 42, Number 1; online edition