Write one drawback of American model of secularism
Answers
Answer:
Introduction
The discrimination of one community or its members by another community or its members on account of their religious identity are the instances of religious persecution and they reflect inter- religious domination.
Secularism is the first and foremost doctrine that opposes all such forms of inter- religious domination.
Separation, loss and sufferings are endemic to the human condition, while large part of our suffering is man-made and hence eliminable, at least some of our suffering is not man made. Religion, art and philosophy are responses to such sufferings. Secularism too accepts this and therefore it is not anti-religious.
Religion has its own share of some deep-rooted problems. In religions such as Hinduism, some sections have been persistently discriminated. For example- Dalits have been barred from entering Hindu temples. In some part Hindu women cannot enter temples. When religion is organised, it is frequently taken over by its most conservative faction, which does not tolerate any dissent.
Religious fundamentalism in parts of US has become a big problem and endangers peace both within country and outside. Many religions are fragmented into sects, which leads to frequent sectarian violence and persecution of dissenting minorities. This religious domination is known as inter- religious domination.
As Secularism is opposed to all forms of institutionalised religious domination, it challenges not merely inter-religious domination but intra-religious dominations. It (Secularism) promotes freedom within religions and promotes equality between, as well as within religions.
What kind of state is necessary to realise these goals?
Here we will see how a state committed to the ideal of secularism should relate to religion and religious communities. Mutual help and sharing can help or contribute towards reducing prejudices & suspicion between communities. One way of reducing religious discrimination is to work together for “mutual enlightenment“. Education is the only way of helping change the mind set of people.
But only education & goodness of some persons will not completely eliminate religious discrimination. Modern day’s societies, states have enormous public power.
How state should prevent such domination by any religious group?
State should be non-theocratic:- A state must not be run by the heads of any particular religion. A state governed directly by a priestly order is called theocratic. For example- Papal States of Europe in Medieval period, Taliban controlled states in recent times.
So, here states lacking separation between religious and political institutions are known for their hierarchies and oppressions and reluctance to allow freedom of religion to members of other religious groups. For this, states should have a separation from religion at the primary level, but this is not sufficient.
States should have no formal, legal alliance with any religion:- Many non-theocratic states have close alliance with a particular religion.
For example- England in 17th century was not run by a priestly class but clearly favoured the Anglican Church and its members. England had an established Anglican religion, which was the official religion of the states. Today Pakistan has an official state religion, namely Islam. Such regimes may leave little scope for internal dissent on religious equality.
A secular state must be committed to principles and goals which are at least partly derived from non- religious sources.(i.e. means). These ends should include peace, religious freedom, and freedom from religiously grounded oppressions, discriminations and exclusions as also inter-religious and intra-religious equality.
To promote these ends the state must be separated from the organised religion and its institutions for the sake of some of these values. There is no defined pattern or form to suggest this separation.
Further, we will consider two models:-
Western model, best represented by America
Indian model of Secularism
Explanation: