I would actually characterize it differently. Secularism in the US implies equal recognition of all religions. It is the separation of the church and the state (although nothing specific anywhere spells this out) - the "no establishment" of religion and "free exercise thereof" in the first amendment taken together would amount to this separation. Consequently, because of the equal recognition and the separation, there is a distance but amicable relationship and significant cooperation between the church and the state in the U.S.
This is in sharp contrast to the French concept of "laicite", which legally prohibits the French state from even recognizing any religion, let alone cooperating with any. One important part of being French is to keep your religion private and not flaunt it; completely unlike in the U.S. Laicite is often seen as outright anti-clericalism. Alex de Tocqueville, whom modern conservatives in the U.S. so love, actually speaks glowingly of U.S. secularism (and chides the French) in his "Democracy in America" because of this exact difference. I see Indian "secularism" (or whatever of that exists) as more in line with the U.S. concept than what is practiced in France. On Fri, Feb 11, 2011 at 10:24 AM, Rajiv Baruah <[email protected]> wrote: > In USA, secularism means absence of religion. In India, secularism means > equal treatment of all religions. Thus the multi-faith prayers during "state" > functions. This definition of secularism has been sanctified by years of > prevailing usage and case law. There is also the very widespread practice of > lighting lamps and chanting a few Sanskrit slokas to bless the start of many > functions. This act of lighting a lamp and chanting Sanskrit slokas too is > not considered religious but cultural. > > Trust this clarifies. > > Best regards > > Rajiv > > > > > > Sent from my iPad > _______________________________________________ > assam mailing list > [email protected] > http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org > _______________________________________________ assam mailing list [email protected] http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
