Secularism

A vital element in Humanism is secularism or laïcité. This is the principle that, in a plural, open society where people follow many different religious and non-religious ways of life, the communal institutions that we share (and together pay for) should provide a neutral public space where we can all meet on equal terms. The European Court of Human Rights has stated (Refah Partisi et al. v. Turkey) that it considers the principle of secularism as one of the founding principles of the rule of law and the best guarantee for democracy and the respect of human rights.

Secularism requires that civil society find a common ethic, acceptable to all its members. It is the opposite of theocracy and rejects not just the establishment of a specific sect or denomination as the official religion of the state but also legal or other official discrimination in favour of religion at large or any particular religious group.

Thus supra-national, national and local government and public institutions - public hospitals, schools, broadcasting etc - should remain even-handed towards all different belief systems and the organisations and groups (churches etc) that embody and represent them. A secular or laïque society is not an anti-religious one. Rather, it is one where fundamental beliefs that we disagree about – beliefs that provide strong motivation to some but mean little or nothing to those who do not hold them - are left aside in public debate about communal decisions.

The religious may find inspiration in their beliefs, but public debate should be conducted in terms we can all understand and based on principles we can all agree about. Only such a society can truly respect freedom of religion or belief.