secularizing

Secularizing is the process of reducing the influence of religion in public life, institutions, or governance, or the act of making something secular. It can refer to reforms that limit religious authority over the state, education, or law, and to broader social shifts away from religion in public rituals and discourse. The term can describe both systemic changes and targeted actions toward specific institutions.

Etymology and usage: secularis comes from Latin saeculum, meaning the worldly or temporal realm, and the word entered English through French and other European languages. In church history, secularization can denote the transfer of property or authority from religious bodies to civil institutions, or the diminishing of clerical control over secular matters. In sociology and political discourse, secularizing often denotes processes that recalibrate or neutralize religious influence within public institutions.

Contexts and applications: governments may secularize by constitutional or legislative means, such as separating church and state, ensuring neutral public institutions, or instituting secular education and civil forms of civil marriage and citizenship. In sociology, secularization refers to the long-term trend toward diminished religious authority in social institutions, while private belief or spirituality might persist. Regional variation is common, with some societies experiencing rapid institutional secularization and others showing coexistence of public religiosity and private faith.

Debate and nuance: the secularization thesis argues that modernization correlates with declining religious influence, but critics point to continued or resurging religiosity, as well as different forms of secularization that affect institutions, beliefs, and practices in uneven ways. Related concepts include secularism, the separation of church and state, and state neutrality toward religion.