Secularism — It’s How You Define it

The original meaning of the word was to imply giving no special consideration to any religion. In India’s special distortion of it, it became at some stage, “equal respect for all religions”, and then over the period transformed into “disdain for the majority religion and special consideration to the minority ones”.

In US, because of Christianity’s dominance, “secularism” is almost taken as a pejorative. The outspoken atheists are of course constantly challenging it and want it be interpreted it as, “equal disdain for all religions”, which is what Thomas Jefferson, the man mostly responsible for keeping the state and religion separate in the American scheme of things, actually intended.

If I would thank “god” for anything, it would be for Jefferson to be there at the right moment in history. I suppose, I don’t need to state which interpretation of secularism I prefer.