It is said that a person is secular when their beliefs and values are totally independent of a religion. In this sense, secularism is an intellectual and moral attitude. This attitude consists of defending the autonomy of the individual with respect to the different religious confessions.
General considerations
Secularism does not pretend to be a current contrary to religion, but this approach emphasizes the separation that should exist between religion and other areas, such as politics or education.
In secularism a clear separation between the state and the church is defended. In most constitutional texts, this separation is explicitly established and in this way it is intended that no type of beliefs can be imposed on the population as a whole. Those who consider themselves secular understand that the religious preferences of individuals should be part of their private life and, therefore, there should not be any kind of interference between the civil and religious spheres.
It is also inspired by freedom of expression. It should be borne in mind that in Europe and in the world in general, religious approaches have served as an explanatory model for any type of belief or approach. It is worth remembering that the scientific theory of evolution initially collided with biblical tradition.
The idea of secularism should not be confused with atheism
An atheist person denies the existence of God, while the layperson considers that political power should represent the whole of the population, regardless of the majority religion in the whole of society.
The idea contrary to secularism would be confessionalism. This one defends that the principles by which a state is organized have to be in consonance with some beliefs of a certain religion.
Today, the Spanish state declares itself non-denominational, but for centuries the Spanish state has organized itself according to the principles of the Catholic confession.
The origin of secular thought
Starting with the Enlightenment in the eighteenth century, some philosophers began to analyze the coexistence between political power and religious power throughout history.
Philosophers like Voltaire and Kant claimed that the close relationship between politics and religion inevitably led to dogmatic and totalitarian positions. In this way, secularism claimed that the state as an institution that represents the entire community does not have to depend on moral criteria of a religious order.
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