I want to begin with a brief philosophical study and analysis of secularism and subsequently discuss it in the context of The Gambia.
Secular
means without religion.
Secularism
is the belief that religion should be a private, personal and voluntary affair
that does not impose upon other people.
It is the theory that as society advances in modernity, religion
retreats and becomes increasingly hollow.
The National Council of Churches describes it as “a way of understanding
and living that is indifferent to religion – in fact, not even concerned enough
to pay it any attention, much less oppose it.”
“Secularism
theory is that process by which religious institutions, actions, and
consciousness, loss their social significance.” Bryan Wilson (1982).
The
Merriam-Webster dictionary describes secularism as the “indifference to
religion and religious considerations”.
As a philosophy, secularism seeks to interpret life on principles taken
solely from the material world without recourse to religion.
Philosophically,
the term is meant to capture that body of thought, writing, and activism which
seeks to critique religion, debunk its claims, challenge its clerical
authorities, and ultimately disabuse religious people of their religious faith
and participation. From the ancient
Skepticism of Lucretius and Wang Chung to the best-selling books of the New
Atheists, the ideology entails the direct deconstruction of religious truth,
claims, criticism of religious practices and leaders, and the promulgating of
anti-theist polemics and anti-religious social protest.
Socio
cultural secularism on the other hand entails the weakening or diminishing of
religion in society, day to day life.
Simply put mundane engagements transacting during Friday prayers or
Sunday church service, folks spending more time on useless pursuit on the
internet than studying the Quran or Bible, disbandment of religious education
in our schools, laws prohibiting polygamy, praying at work, women wearing
scarves, religious holidays, legalization of adultery, fornication, same sex
marriage and the list goes on. It
involves greater number of people in a given society living their lives in a
decidedly secular manner, utterly oblivious or indifferent to supernatural
being(s)/things like God, sin, salvation, heaven or hell and being distinctly
disinterested in religious rituals and activities, and being less inclined to
include or consider religion as a significant or marginal component of their
identity.
Contemporary
western secular democracies
In
France, Laicite is the principle of secularism in public affairs, aimed at
fostering a post religious society. In
this spirit, a law was passed in 2004 banning religious symbols and clothing,
like the Christian cross, the Jewish kippah, and headscarves in public schools. In addition, the law also includes some of
the rules below;
o Rules of politeness – religion can never be
used to justify breaking the rules of equality between men and women. For example, if a member of staff refuses to
shake hands with a woman for religious reasons, or does not want to be managed
by one, he will be sanctioned
o Sex education – sex education becoming
obligatory in schools, from primary to secondary
o Celebrating Christmas and other religious
festivals – “secularized festivals like Christmas can only be celebrated” if
they are not used for worship of any kind including the presentation. Just to mention a few
This
so-called religious freedom emboldened Charlie Hebdo in 2006 to publish 12
cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) in the pages of its weekly
magazine. Isn’t this a clear
manifestation of liberals using the government’s coercive powers to force
believers to change their views or act against their most deeply held spiritual
convictions and thus committing an act of illiberalism?
Interestingly,
as secularism is itself an enforced practice as Dominique Moisi a French
political scientist beautifully puts it “Laicite has become the first religion
of the Republic.
Molly
Worthen, an American writer wrote in her piece “Once Nation Under God?” The Christian consensus that long governed
our public square is disintegrating.
American secularism is at a crossroads.
The Supreme Court ruled against prayer in public schools, and legalized
abortion while politicians declared “war on Christmas” and kowtowed to the
“homosexual lobby.” This is a country
that prides itself as the bastion of secular democracy yet there is no single
holiday that the so-called religious minorities can identify with.
Some
secular ramifications on The Gambia and our status quo
Cessation
of public exercise of religious freedoms in the form of worship including the
taking away of the Friday half day working hours in accommodation of the Muslim
holy day observance. Attending Friday
prayers will squarely rest on the understanding and permission of one’s
supervisor and not anymore, a privilege granted by the state. Public institutions will no longer be allowed
to build mosque or prayer rooms for Muslims to offer their daily prayers while
at work
The
state can no longer offer any financial assistance, subventions, tax breaks
etc. to any religiously affiliated establishment and thus rendering the
portfolio of religious affairs ministry or adviser role redundant. Offering any form of support whether cash or
in kind to visiting or ordination of religious figures: Mufti Menk and Bishop
elect Fr. Gabriel Mendy comes to mind, both of whom were given state
endorsements recently
The
Qadi courts, constitutionally sanctioned and provided for would no longer be
justifiable to operate as parallel courts in the interest of granting so called
religious equality
State
ceremonies and gatherings can no longer be opened with religious prayers nor
can we invite or recognize individuals based on their creed or religion
Abolition
of religious education from public andprivate schools and promotion of the
teaching of immorality (sexual education), gay rights and many more at a tender
age. Religious symbols that are clearly
identifiable may not be a right to exercise one’s religious freedom but rather
considered a violation of secularism and thus not allowed
All
public holidays with religious symbolism would either be disbanded or granted
with caveats for celebration.
Congratulating Muslims or Christians on their religious festivals would
not be befitting for the state any more.
It also means no more state sponsoring of pilgrims in whatever shape or
form
All
religious programs currently airing on the state broadcaster will terminate
These
are but just a few examples of how secularism proper would affect our status quo. However, it is important to note the ripple
effects or back lash that would result from these, not the least of which is
resistance, political radicalism et al.
We are a people of values, rich cultures, morals and religions and
nothing will take these away from us.
While the fundamental goal of secularism is the demise of religion, we
are not going to rest on our laurels and watch our beautiful and morality
grounded country to degenerate. The
flaunting of these dangerous ideas and system, saw the overthrowing of the
secular, modernized government of Iran in 1979 by an Islamic Religious leader
and his followers. For those of you who
are beguiled in believing that you are winning this battle of relegating
religion to individual private lives, well bad news for you, that it is here to
stay. Philip Jenkins in his book The
Next Christendom said – Most of us think of Christianity as a European import,
but the rapidly growing Christian movement, which now has 2.5 billion
adherents, is mainly in Southern hemisphere.
Christianity is positively thriving in Africa, Latin America and parts
of Asia. In fact, outside Western Europe
and North America, the world seems to be getting more religious, not less.
In
anticipation of the counter arguments of the proponents of this dangerous
system, by referencing mild so called secular democracies like the United
Kingdom where the Christian domination is still somewhat prevalent as
symbolized by the two established churches, the Church of England and Church of
Scotland where the former has the legal right, which it exercises, to have
bishops and archbishops as members of the House of Lords, one of the two
chambers of the United Kingdom. The UK
parliament itself starts each day with Christian prayers. Religious holidays such as Christmas and
Easter remain protected by law.
Similarly, long-established laws enable various Christians to celebrate
religious marriages which are fully recognized by the State. Popular public
broadcasting on both TV and the radio continues to carry regular, frequent
religious programs. The monarch, who is head of the Church of England, cannot
be a Catholic. On this and a whole series of other levels the nature of daily
life in the United Kingdom seems to be a rebuke to the idea of a secular society. Well this is the reason pundits like me
continue to argue that such a system does not seem to be a propitious setting
for secularism to flourish. Here is a
strong case for us also to keep our status quo where no one is disadvantaged
while we jealously guard our identity as a nation of religious people (Muslims
and Christians).
T.J
Dice – Opinion columnist for Star Tribune wrote: Four big belief groups account
for nearly 9 in 10 of the world’s people – Christians, Muslims, the
unaffiliated and Hindus. Between now and
2050, Pew Scholars project, each of these groups will grow along with global
population – but only one will grow as a portion of the total. That would be Muslims, who will expand from
about 23 percent of world population 2010 to about 30 percent by 2050 (the
growth represents almost 1.2 billion additional Muslims). Meanwhile, only one of the big four groups
will noticeably shrink as a portion of the world’s people in the decades ahead.
That would be the unaffiliated — atheists, agnostics and those with no
religious preference. Let’s call them the “unreligious.” Their proportion of
world population will fall from about 16 percent today to about 13 percent in
2050, says Pew.
In
his classic Reflections on the French Revolution, Edmund Burke argued that
religion was the underlying basis of civil social order. Voltaire, the
celebrated Enlightenment philosopher, argued that without theism society could
not function; it is necessary for people to have “profoundly engraved on their
minds the idea of a Supreme being and creator” in order to maintain a moral
social order. Alexis de Tocqueville similarly argued that religious faith is
“indispensable” for a well-functioning society, that irreligion is a
“dangerous” and “pernicious” threat to societal well-being, and that
non-believers are to be regarded as “natural enemies” of social harmony.
More
recently, Newt Gingrich has argued that any country that attempts to “drive God
out of public life” will surely face all kinds of social problems, and a
secular country would be “frankly, a nightmare.” Indeed, in the aftermath of
the wanton massacre of schoolchildren in Newton, Connecticut, Newt Gingrich
publicly proclaimed that such violence was the obvious and inevitable result of
secularism in our society. Mike Huckabee agreed.
Religion
– or so the age-old hypothesis goes – is therefore a necessary glue for keeping
society together. And conversely, secularism is a danger to societal
well-being. For if people turn away from God and stop being religious, then
crime will go up, corruption will increase, perversion will percolate, decency
will diminish, and all manifestations of misery and malfeasance will
predominate. Phil Zuckerman Ph.D. The Secular Life.
The
time has now come for people of religion whether Muslims or Christians to come
together and form civil society organizations, associations, and even political
parties that would promote our status quo the least and protect our country and
people from this dangerous ideology. It
is already enough of a sin and injustice that we as a people have decided that
man made laws are better and just than divine laws. It is unfortunate, that majority of those
found as the biggest proponents of this sickening idea including our elite and
political class are ignorant of what it really means. The civilizations that have sacrificed their
orthodox and conservative religious values have no doubt profoundly advanced
economically but at a significant cost to morality, consequently giving rise to
a proliferation of so many social vices that billions of dollars are set aside
annually in dealing or combating these vices.
I
close with a verse of the Quran (as a glad tiding for the believers) in Chapter
61 – As – Saff, Verse 8: They want to extinguish the light of Allah with their
mouths, but Allah will perfect His light, although the disbelievers dislike
it. I pray that our beautiful country is
protected from the evil of secularism and all its champions and that we remain
a people of dignity, morals and religion.