Understanding secularism in global politics

Secularism is a form of both constitutional arrangement and political philosophy that governs approaches to religious plurality. As a principle within international relations, it can be traced back to the Peace of Westphalia secured in the 17th century through a series of treaties which established the principles of sovereign states. Contemporarily, it is understood as a strategy to establish principles and a shared language through which diverse groups of varying religious traditions and none can work to achieve common goals. In these terms it is not surprising, given the complexity of actors engaged in humanitarian response noted above, that it is a secular framework which has come to characterize the goals, standards and processes of the contemporary humanitarian regime. A secular frame has widely been seen as the key foundation to position the language, goals and processes of humanitarianism outside and above the fray of conflicting beliefs and ideologies. Religion, given its potential divisiveness, alignment to violence and intolerance, and its belonging to the realm of ‘ultimate ideals’, is not an appropriate domain for humanitarian engagement. In order to ‘enjoy the confidence of all’,agencies need to operate above the fray of religious ideology and practice, consigning religion’s protected free exercise to the private sphere. Secularism is no longer a simple description of the consequence of loss of belief; to many, it represents an alternative way of life that should be satisfying in its own right. The crisis in secularism is in its relationship to religion. Secularism is nowpopular enough that one may consider it a social phenomenon in its ownright. The paper is aimed at inquiring the questions for the future of secularism that, does this strong separation between religion and secularism have the effect of giving religion a monopoly on imbuing human life with depth of meaning? And does it then restrict secularism to mere materialism and relativism? We also come across with another variety of this second form of secularism as “Hallowed Secularism.” Although the constitutional theory of this second form of secularism is by no means yet worked out, there is at least the potential here for acceptance of religious imagery in the public square.