Secular means not having to do with religion. In a world where everyone believes in a God or gods, and church is separated from state, that could mean secular is a synonym for the functions having to do with the state. However, at least since Darwin, and perhaps for all time, there has been category of conscience called an unbeliever, or atheist. When there is no “higher power” everything is secular, and secular takes the form of a worldview. With evolution as the creation story, survival of the fittest as what’s happening, extinction as the end story, hope placed in humans progress, pure secular views have all the attributes of a world view. Secular is a full worldview alternative, a type of religion. As with other religions, secular claims a monopoly on truth.
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When secularists try to remove religion from the public square — including the public schools — they are establishing a de facto religion: secular humanism. The intent of the founders was not to establish a religion — which is different from limiting the public square to the secular worldview. When administrations start to require religions to “evolve” we have the problem of establishment of worldview/religion.
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The USA state, in which there is no established or required worldview/religion, has the function of arbitrating between many deeply held consciences or world-views, one of them being secularism. The primary job of the state is to preserve a civil peace — from dangers outside but also from inside.
We’ve confused secular with state for a generation, and are only now coming to terms with the aftermath — having nearly accepted the establishment of a secular humanist worldview in our government. What we cannot afford to do is now err in the other direction, trying to redo laws that are just only to a Christian worldview, knowing others disagree passionately. That smells equally of established religion. Instead, we must limit government to civil peace. We have circled back Roger Williams’s original point. When we detect a worldview getting established by state, we cannot accept that. We must object, and force the state back to limited role of civil peace. The worldview conflict will go on, but in a manner that eschews violence, persecution and coercion and replaces it with tolerance and argument.
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Today’s language for civil peace is civil rights. We must define and respect civil rights as well as protect freedom of conscience/religion/worldview. We are at a precipice that could oscillate wildly between proposed established worldviews until the civil peace is lost. To regain our balance, people must be able to advocate for positions they hold as noble and yet must not be forced to pay for or participate in positions they hold as against their conscience. We must recreate the space to allow existence in civil peace of alternative views even as we reserve the right to argue with each other. We must find a spirit of accommodation that creates the largest possible set of win-win resolutions to the inevitable conflicts. When an action violates a person’s conscience, another person of a different conscience should be sought to provide the service as the first choice.
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One thing we never had in our constitution was complete freedom of association. Sometimes respect of civil rights of those of a different worldview requires we tolerate them, providing for their civil needs even as we make clear where we disagree. The key is in clearly defining where civil needs (vs. wants) end. In Roger William’s proposed world that meant a right to be free from persecution — physical and mental — for words spoken. It meant hospitality so that people did not starve, or freeze. The smaller the set of things we are forced to pay for via the state, the easier it is to preserve balance with freedom of conscience. The larger the economic safety net provided by the state, the bigger the state tends to become. The key is finding a workable balance, not resorting to legislated solutions for conflicts resolvable with accommodation. One reason to support 5013C-like entities is it that it encourages via tax deduction a private set of safety nets while allowing varying conscience.
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Recently, an Executive Order was proposed to re-fortify religious freedom. That Executive Order could not however justly stand alone as in at least some of the 50 states the civil rights of some marginalized communities are not specified. We need both worldview/religious freedom and a civil peace that protects the marginalized. We must define when and how we expect accommodation vs. provision of service under protested association vs. refusal of service. We need to do more work to make the result tenable and just. We will not end the protests by oscillating between which groups are in the street, we need instead to restore a balance of toleration.
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Originally published on Medium in the publication About Rekindled. Order historical fiction novel Rekindled with the button below.
