OK, close this. A country with such diverse cultural and religious essay on secularism can do well only under a secular democratic set- up. A separation of church and state will no longer be necessary as lawmakers would no longer make decisions based on their religion and individuals would no longer need to fight for their religious freedoms, essay on secularism. Through demonstrating the way essay on secularism which secularism has developed over time the modernity of the concept will be established. Early Islamic expansion also had trouble dividing religion from government and implementing secular rules. riots last only a short time. An avid reader, a fashion junkie, nature lover, adventure freak and a travel enthusiast are some of the other terms that describe her.
Long and Short Essay on Secularism in English
Secularism in India. India is a secular country. Secularism means that everybody enjoys complete religious freedom. The government will not compel anybody to adopt any particular religion. Religious freedom is our fundamental right and it is written in our constitution. Everybody has the freedom to propagate any religion, to adopt any religion, essay on secularism, or construct any religious building. No particular religion or construct any religious boiling. No particular religion will be taught in school textbooks. India is a country of different religions, essay on secularism. Therefore, secularism is the only process in which different cultures can live and develop peacefully in this country.
Every citizen is free in his religious matters. All religions are treated equally. That is essay on secularism there is a cordial relationship amongst the people having different religions, essay on secularism. There is no religious distinction in government jobs, essay on secularism. In India, essay on secularism, minority communities enjoy greater religious freedom. They are allowed to live their life according to their customs and nobody can force their views on them.
They have an equal right to vote and send their representatives to the parliament and other law-making agencies. India is proud of this system of secular life. A country with such diverse cultural and religious fragments can do well only under a secular democratic set- up. A fundamentalist attitude in governance can split essay on secularism up into small entities thus breaking the high values of its integrity. All the people belonging to different religious sects form parts of the important political parties or groups and stand untitled together whereas a problem of national integrity or security confronts us from within our country or outside.
Some fanatics in every religion cause great miseries to those people who belong to other victims to these fanatics. Sometimes the politicians use religion as their tool to arouse the emotions of the people for religious conflicts. They poison the mind of the people for their selfish ends. Communal riots are an example of their bad shameful deeds. The citizens should not be misled in this way. They should live respecting other religions. Indian Secularism. India is a Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic. The Constitution of India guarantees its citizens full freedom in matters of religious faith. One of the fundamental rights given by the Indian Constitution is the right to freedom of conscience and free profession, practice, and propagation of religion.
But there is a lot of confusion about Indian secularism, essay on secularism. The secular character of India means that there is no state religion. The Government does not favor any particular religion or sect. In the eyes of the law, all religions and their followers are equal. There is no discrimination on the basis of religion, faith, caste, deed, race, sex, etc. There is complete religious freedom. The Government neither favors nor opposes any religion. It regards religion and its practice as a personal affair of the citizens. But it never means India is anti-religion, essay on secularism, or irreligious, essay on secularism, or indifferent to religion.
It only means the Indian Government is neutral in matters of different faiths and religions. India is inhabited by various races, castes, communities, and followers of different religions. There are the Hindus, the Muslims, the Christians, the Sikhs, the Jains, the Buddhists, the Jews, essay on secularism, the Parsis, and essay on secularism. This diversity of religions is a unique feature of India. All these religions have been flourishing side by side for centuries. Thus, it is in the fitness of things that India is a secular country. It signifies religious tolerance, amity, and a feeling of oneness in spite of large variety.
Basically, India has essay on secularism been religiously a federal nation. There have existed many different faiths and religions since the hoary past, essay on secularism. In Essay on secularism itself, there are hundreds of sects following different religious practices, rites, and rituals. Sometimes the difference between one sect from the other is as wide as that between essay on secularism religion essay on secularism the other. India has been the birthplace of such great religions like Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism, essay on secularism. The religious life in India represents a complete but wonderful pattern.
Jainism and Buddhism, the offshoots of Hinduism, marked the first great revolt against many useless and irrelevant rituals and rites. Muslims in India essay on secularism the largest religious minority. India is one of the largest Islamic nations. The Christian church in South India is much older than the coming of Islam in India. Thomas, one of the first twelve disciples of Christ, essay on secularism, was the first preacher of Christianity in Essay on secularism. The Parsis came in the 8th Century seeking refuge in India from religious persecution in Iran. The Jews came earlier about years ago. Thus, essay on secularism, India has been a country of many faiths and religions from the very beginning.
Essay on secularism has always followed the policy of religious tolerance, co-existence, harmony, and peace. India is secular and yet profoundly religious. One can follow and preach any religion as long as it does not interfere with the religious freedom and rights of other people. Essay on secularism is in keeping with the history and construction of Indian society that we follow a secular policy and allow complete freedom in matters of religious faith and preaching. Even non-believers and atheists have the same equality before the law as do the others professing certain faiths and religions. Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India considered religion as a means essay on secularism inner development of the individual.
He explained secularism in very clear terms. Mahatma Gandhi, the father of the nation, under whose worthy leadership we achieved freedom, was deeply religious but had great respect for all religions and faiths. Ultimately he died for the cause of religious and communal tolerance and harmony which are the basis of true secularism. Even if India had not been declared a secular country, she would have remained secular in spirit. The Hindus and Hinduism regard different religions as different paths leading to the same, Ultimate Reality. The Vedas, the ancient most spiritual documents of mankind have said that God is one, but sages call it by various names.
The fathers of the Indian Constitution did not believe Mandan theory of religion as the opiate of the masses, but they believed that religion is personal, so declared India a Secular State. Recently there have been so much communal hatred, fights, and tension in India. It is mainly because of the narrow selfish and parochial interests of certain political parties. The people of India, by and large, are secular, peaceful, and believe in secularism. These politicians are to blame for communal and religious riots because they have had been using different communities as their vote-banks.
India went in for secularism at the time of Independence because she wanted to offer equal status to all religions. The framers of the Constitution had visualized a peaceful and united India over the years, different communities have developed hostile attitude towards each other. There have been communal riots leading to deaths and destruction of property. Certain steps to check the divisive forces which lead to communal riots are essential to preserve the integrity of the country. The Constitution of India specifically lays down that no citizen of the country shall be discriminated against on the basis of community, caste or Creed.
It clearly states that all people shall have the freedom to practice the religion of their choice, without any interference from the State. The State shall not uphold any particular religion as its own. Thus the secular character of the Indian polity was recognized and confirmed at the time of the inception of the country. In spite of the several divisive forces at work, India has been successful in maintaining its secular character. A round of any city of India will convince one that secularism obtains in the land. One would come across temples, mosques, gurudwaras, and churches, nestling close to each other, essay on secularism. They partake of the sheer joy that comes out of fellow-feeling and innocent camaraderie.
They live together as equal citizens of a free India. The Indian culture postulates reverence not only for One own religion but also respect and tolerance for other religions. The Indian culture is in fact the composite product of experiences over the centuries On a soil which gave shelter to and nurtured a variety of communities. Besides, the partition essay on secularism the country was accepted by the father of the Indian National Movement. They did so not because they disliked a particular community, but because it was insisted upon by the then Muslim leaders. Actually, our national leaders looked upon the Muslims in India as part, and parcel of the Indian civilization and culture. Therefore, they were happy to retain a part of toe Muslim population even after the partition.
No profession is barred to members of any community in India. Even the police and the army have members of the minority communities.
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Nation and religion: Perspectives on Europe and Asia, Barnett, S. The Enlightenment and Religion: the myths of modernity. Manchester University Press. Hunter, J. American evangelicalism: Conservative religion and the quandary of modernity. Rutgers University Press. Mancini, S. Power of Symbols and Symbols as Power: Secularism and Religion as Guarantors of Cultural Convergence, The. Cardozo L. Pecora, V. Secularization and Cultural Criticism: Religion, Nation, and Modernity. University of Chicago Press. Spohn, W. Multiple modernity, nationalism and religion: a global perspective. Current Sociology, 51 , Vanaik, A. The furies of Indian communalism: religion, modernity, and secularization. Verso Books. Ultius, Inc. Ultius Blog, 07 Dec.
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Copied to clipboard Click here for more help with APA citations. Copied to clipboard Click here for more help with CMS citations. Copied to clipboard Click here for more help with Turabian citations. Rate this blog entry:. Tags modern society rationality religion secular secularism secularism in society society Sociology united states. Author Ultius. View author's profile Show more posts from author. Tested Daily Click to Verify. About The Author This post was written by Ultius. The Bhiwandi riots were reportedly engineered by motivated politicians who wished to make their presence felt by their opponents.
It is a pity though, that the secular nature of the Indian fabric is sought to be damaged by the vested interests for their narrow individual ends. The communal tension between the Hindus and the Sikhs in India is also political in nature. Left to themselves, the Sikhs and the Hindus have always lived in peace. Their culture, religion and values teach the same norms of behavior. However, the redeeming feature. is that these. riots last only a short time. Life does return normalcy and the two communities begin to live in peace. This becomes possible, because basically, there is no ill-will between the Hindus and Muslims or the Sikhs and the Hindus.
By and large, they have been living together and sharing each other s joys, and sorrows. If there had not been essential fellow feeling, the different communities could not have lived together for decades and the v communal tension would have been a permanent feature. Secularism can be further strengthened by the leaders of the two communities taking upon themselves to instill feelings of brotherhood and friendliness among their respective communities. They should form peace committees whose responsibility should be to see to it that the minor incidents are not misunderstood and do not flare up into riots. India is the home of many religions. Here Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Jainism, etc, have thrived side by side. The instances of religious bigotry and persecution are rare in the history of India.
On the other hand, the persecuted people from other countries got refuge in this country. It would have been unwise to violate the ancient traditions of tolerance and magnanimity. Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of the Nation, dedicated all his life to the unity of the Hindus and Muslims. He laid down his life for the noble cause and the nation could not be so ungrateful as to throw his teachings over-board and carve out a patch, which was entirely different from his noble teachings and ancient Indian traditions. Gandhiji has left an indelible imprint on the mind of the present generation and the Gandhian philosophy will continue to be a beacon light to posterity.
Again, the world has progressed with the advancement of Knowledge. Every modern State professes faith in democracy which stands for equal rights for all citizens, irrespective of their sex, caste or creed. To make India a theocratic state would certainly have been a retrograde step. Secularism as a political concept is the result of the evolution of progressive thought. In the past religion held sway even in the political affairs of the States in Europe and religious bigotry led to internecine quarrels and mutual war-fare. Thousands of people were burned at the stake as heretics. But with the progress of science free thinking was stimulated. It was realized that differences in religious views were not incompatible with loyalty to the State.
Politics ceased to be the handmaid of religion and religion withdrew itself to private life. The States stopped discrimination on religious grounds and conferred equal rights on all the citizens irrespective of their religious views. It would have been barbarous for India to repeat history by making religion the sole guide in all spheres in the Age of Democracy. India is the home of many communities. If she is to command loyalty from all her people, she must profess secular-ism. The majority community should not reduce the people of other communities to second-class citizens. All the citizens must enjoy equal rights and there should be no temptation to any citizen to divide his loyalty on religious grounds.
It is secularism which can give a sense of security to the religious minorities and exact allegiance from them to the country. A State associated with a religion creates fears and uncertainties in the mind of the minorities. In Pakistan which is a theocratic State, there has been systematic extermination of the Hindus and this has created fear in the mind of the minority communities. A theocratic State inevitably leads to divided loyalty. Lastly, it is because of secularism that India has maintained friendly relations with the Muslim countries in the Middle East and South East Asia and won an honourable place for herself in the comity of nations.
India is unique in being a secular nation. It is a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic, republic. The Indian Constitution guarantees its citizens full freedom in matters of religious faith. But there is much confusion and misunderstanding about the secular character of India. Sometimes it may be construed that India is anti-religious, irreligious or indifferent to religion. However, Indian secularism is totally different in its meaning and content. It only means that there is no state religion. There is no favour to any particular religion and its followers. All religions and their followers are equal in the eyes of law. There is neither favour nor hostility towards any faith. It only means that the state is neutral in the matter of religious faith and its propagation.
There cannot be any discrimination on the basis of religion, faith, caste, creed, race, sex, community, and language, etc. There is complete religious freedom unless it interferes in the freedom of other religions. Here in India, religion and its practice has been recognised as a personal and private affair. But it never means public and collective religious functions, etc. It only means that there is no state patronage or opposition to any particular religion. Its staggering diversity has been a mighty unifying factor to make it a strong and unified nation. There are various races, castes communities and religions co-existing in peace and harmony for many centuries.
There are Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis, Christians, Buddhists, Jews and a host of others. Next come the Christians and the Sikhs. The communal intolerance and fight between the Hindus and the Muslims has been a legacy of the Britishers. They followed the policy of divide and rule and this ultimately led to the partition of the sub-continent into India and Pakistan at the time of Independence in Millions of Muslims left India for good and migrated to the newly formed Pakistan and yet millions of them stayed back in India, being assured of their security, safety and religious freedom.
In post-independent India, the Hindu-Muslim conflict has been more or less backed and sponsored by certain vested interests. Hindus and Muslims, by and large, are tolerant and co-operative and like to co-exist in peace, harmony and respect for each other. Secularism is the very essence of Indian democracy. It reflects the ancient Indian tradition of religious tolerance, co-operation and mutual respect for one another. Islam came to India with the Muslim conquests. The Muslims in India make it one of the largest Islamic nations. It has added colour, variety, strength and richness to Indian heritage and culture.
The Christian Church here is much older than Islam. Thomas, one of the twelve Disciples of Christ, was the first preacher of Christianity in India. He was a contemporary of St. Peter in Rome. The Parsis came in the eighth century, seeking refuge from religious persecution in Iran and brought Zoroastrianism. The Jews came quite early, about 2, years ago and settled down chiefly in Mumbai, Pune, Kochi and Delhi. In Hinduism itself, there are hundreds of sects following different religious practices, rites, rituals, and manners of worship and prayer. Sometimes the difference between one sect from the other may be as wide as that between one religion and the other.
This religious diversity represents a complete and wonderful pattern of unity, integrity and wholeness. India has been always secular and yet profoundly religious. It is in keeping with this eternal spirit that our Constitutional fathers declared India a secular state, without any discrimination on the basis of faith and religion among other things. It was a great Indian value upheld by these leaders of great wisdom in the larger interest of India and its teeming millions. The secular character of Indian polity was further strengthened under the great leadership of Mahatma Gandhi during the struggle for independence. Himself a deeply religious Hindu, he had a great respect for all other religions and faiths.
Ultimately, he died at the altar of British imperialism, based on religious divide and intolerance and for the cause of religious tolerance, communal harmony, which forms the very foundation of true secularism. There have been communal and religious riots, conflicts and conflagrations during the last 50 years of our independence but mainly because of certain vested political and sectarian interests. These politicians and their parties have been using different communities as their vote banks. Lack of education, enlightenment, economical advancement, scientific temper, and existence of orthodoxy and obscurantism, aided and abetted by certain fanatic, fundamentalist and narrow-minded elements have been the main causes of communal disharmony in India.
A majority of Muslims are still backward, illiterate, superstitious and unaware of modern, economic, scientific and technological advances. They are being exploited by some religious fanatics and so called political leaders to grind their own axe. Among the Hindus also there are sections of people subject to such exploitation. They become easy tools in the hands of these bigots and indulge in communal conflicts. There is an urgent need to be aware of these anti-social and anti-secular forces so that they may be exposed and effectively checkmated.
The economic and cultural backwardness of these sections should be removed. They should be brought into the national mainstream so as to eliminate their self-imposed isolation, alienation and backwardness. It is natural that these economically weak and vulnerable sections should succumb to narrow sectarian pressures and rise in revolt in the name of religion against those who are better off and belong to the other community and faith. Removal of unemployment and backwardness, more equal distribution of national wealth and removal of imbalances in economic development of various communities only can ensure real and lasting secularism. It cannot prosper in poverty, economic discrimination, backwardness and slums because then the communities or people suffering from these evils can easily become prey to fundamentalist and reactionary communal forces in the country.
We should not allow these communal forces to undermine our secular spirit, religious tolerance, peace, harmony, co-existence and respect for each other. No political leader or party should be allowed to raise the bogey of religion or community. Religion is a personal affair and has nothing to do with the day-to-day national affairs. In our public and social life, we should be guided only by national interests. The government along with the scholars on the subject should work together to ensure that the message of secularism is delivered loud and clear to one and all and maintain the peace of the state. Introduction Secularism is the separation of state and the religious groups.
This separation means that the state shall not interfere and influence the religious groups and vice-versa. Secularism is one of the foundations of independent India. It ensures the citizens with right to expression along with religious freedom that is they are free to follow any religion of their choice. No entity can force a certain religion on a citizen of a truly secular state. History of Secularism in India The history of secularism in India dates back to when it was declared a secular state during the 42 nd amendment of the Indian Constitution.
The leaders of Independent India had dreamt of a country where religion is no bound for people and the state does not favor or accept any religion as the state religion. The inclusion of the ideology of secularism in India promotes the co-existence of all the religious groups. The implementation of the ideology of secularism in a diverse country like India which comprises of a dozen religions was a difficult task and still there are certain drawbacks which are yet to be addressed to. Western and Indian Secularism The philosophy of secularism in the west stands on the principle of separation of state and religion and solely focuses on the rights of a citizen to follow the religion of their choice whereas in India secularism is attributed to the fair and equal treatment of all religions and treat them all as one under the law.
Indian government has not exactly been separated from religions as it finances and maintains many religious monuments and places meanwhile making sure that no religion is favored in a way unfair to the other groups. Secularism in the west believes that every citizen has the right to follow any religion of their taste. It accepts the face that different people have different ideologies and opinions and the law is considered above all whereas Indian secularism is a bit different than that of the west. It implies that each religion should be equally protected by the state and given equal respect. But the existence of Shariat Indian Muslims Law and HCC Hindu Civil Code undermines the sole objective and focus of the philosophy of secularism in India.
Education and Secularism One of the major challenges to modern day secularism is the lack of education. When proper education is not provided to the young minds about the importance and sole objective of this ideology, then they tend to follow traditions and reach out to people based on their caste and religion. Proper education and clarity among the future generation will lead to unbiased and clear decisions in the future as far as religion and the state are concerned. Students have to be taught that following or not following a religion is an individual act based on the taste and ideology of that particular individual. Conclusion It needs to be understood that any state cannot be truly secular with secularism just written in its books. The entire ideology has to be accepted with grace and implemented equally to all the people meanwhile keeping a check on the governmental bodies for any unfair use of religious groups to gain power.
Each individual should be considered subject to law, regardless of gender, religion, majority or minority status, etc. The young generation should be taught about the ideology and the struggles of people in the past for the establishment of the principle of secularism in the constitution. This essay was written by a fellow student. You can use it as an example when writing your own essay or use it as a source, but you need cite it. Explore how the human body functions as one unit in harmony in order to life. Secularism Essay. Free Essays - PhDessay. com, Aug 10, Accessed January 7, com , Aug Some believe that whatever happens during the course of their lives is inevitable and every event destined and laid out before them like a map to their life; in other.
When writing an argumentative essay, a student must first choose a topic. The topic must be one that has two sides to it, and ideally, will have supporters for both. Some think it is fun. Some people think it is dangerous. So, what is skateboarding? This is a very good topic for a skateboard essay. What exactly can you consider. Short essay writing is often practiced in large classes. Students are asked to present their critical view point, consider some ideas or review information. Writing short essays exclude extended time-consuming. The reactions of characters towards a turning planetary civilization. whether a retreat or an embracing.
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