Secular societies can coexist with religion through state separation.

Evidence

The word secular has different meanings and has a rich intellectual history. Here I am using it to mean the decline or absence of religious belief and practice, synonymous with irreligious. However, secular societies are not necessarily incompatible with religion, as when there is a separation of religion and state. — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 872

Categorization

Category: Definitional Content

• DEFINE: Clarifies the author’s working definition of secular as decline of belief, distinct from church-state separation.

Related

• Church-state separation alone does not constitute secularism as a distinct doctrine. (similarity 0.88)
• The secular is conceptually dependent on the idea of religion. (similarity 0.84)
• Church-state separation alone does not define secularism’s novelty (similarity 0.83)
• The secular cannot be conceived without the category of religion. (similarity 0.83)
• The secular is a contingent doctrine, not an emancipation from religion (similarity 0.81)
• Secular societies climbed the ladder of religion and then kicked it away (similarity 0.81)
• The secular is neither a continuation nor a negation of the religious. (similarity 0.81)
• Religious belief cannot be understood apart from secular authority structures (similarity 0.81)
• The sacred and the secular are mutually dependent concepts. (similarity 0.81)
• Secularism legitimizes the nation-state through consensus or religion-independent political ethics. (similarity 0.80)
• Secular societies now compete against religiously organized cooperation (similarity 0.80)
• The secular concept precedes secularism as a political doctrine (similarity 0.80)
• Effective secular institutions drive religious decline by taking over its function. (similarity 0.80)
• The modern state is an articulation rather than a cause of secularization (similarity 0.80)
• Religion and nationalism are modern categories co-created by the secular order, not ancient givens. (similarity 0.79)