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secularism
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ā€œSeparate the church and the stateā€ reads a sign favoring political secularism Fresco by Sandro Botticelli showing Saint Augustine seated at a desk, holding a pen and book, with shelves of books and scientific instruments behind him. Martin Luther Portrait painting by Henriette Rath of John Calvin in profile, wearing a black cap and robe with a fur collar, gesturing with his right hand. John Locke Thomas Jefferson A person ascends the steps of the west facade of the United States Supreme Court Building in Washington, D.C., with its tall columns and a round fountain in the foreground. Satirical 1905 cartoon cover from Le Rire showing a priest, a government official, and Marianne representing France, seated back-to-back under a sun labeled Separation of Church and State. Young woman wearing a pink hijab smiles thoughtfully while writing in a notebook at a table in a cafe. Kemal AtatĆ¼rk
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ā€œSeparate the church and the stateā€ reads a sign favoring political secularism
ā€œSeparate the church and the stateā€ reads a sign favoring political secularism A demonstrator holding a sign calling for the separation of church and state during a demonstration on May 7, 2022, at Federal Plaza in Chicago to protest the draft U.S. Supreme Court decision, leaked on May 2, that nullified the Roe v. Wade decision.

secularism

political principle
Written by
Charles Preston
Charles Preston is Associate Editor for Religion at EncyclopƦdia Britannica.
Charles Preston
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Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
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ā€¢History

secularism, a worldview or political principle that separates religion from other realms of human existence, often putting greater emphasis on nonreligious aspects of human life or, more specifically, separating religion from the political realm. A precise definition of secularism is difficult to formulate, even for scholars. The Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor, for example, has observed that ā€œit is not entirely clear what is meant by secularism. There are indeed quite different formulae that go under...

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