Debate: What secularism really means
Some points on Maria Exall’s article in Solidarity 3/76. What is secularism ? First of all, it is freedom of conscience. A secular state is one which doesn’t try to impose any kind of religious or political or philosophical thought. It is not “tolerance” or “equality between religions”, it is law guaranteeing the right of all to be religious in one way or another, or to be agnostic, or to be atheist — and the right to change your mind whenever you want! In a secular society the state doesn’t worry about what people are thinking, except when it poses a threat to someone : ie when a man is...