SUBSIM Radio Room Forums - View Single Post - Does secularism make people more ethical?

Penguin · 08-12-11, 07:30 AM

I seem to be the only person who uses the word secularism in a different way. To me it describes the concept of separation of church and state - sometimes also called Laïcité. I think the article got translated in a bad way. The original talks about unbelievers, which the Germans also use in the sense of non-believers.

A better word would be non-deitism. It's not only semantics, as these are two different concepts which may overlap. A secularist can or can not be religious, a non-believer is not.

So, in this context: secularism is more ethical, non-belief not necessarily.

08-12-11, 07:30 AM	#10
Penguin Ocean Warrior Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Rheinische Republik Posts: 3,322 Downloads: 92 Uploads: 0	I seem to be the only person who uses the word secularism in a different way. To me it describes the concept of separation of church and state - sometimes also called Laïcité. I think the article got translated in a bad way. The original talks about unbelievers, which the Germans also use in the sense of non-believers. A better word would be non-deitism. It's not only semantics, as these are two different concepts which may overlap. A secularist can or can not be religious, a non-believer is not. So, in this context: secularism is more ethical, non-belief not necessarily.