Secularism’s
roots
As a term "secularism" was used for the first time about 1846 by George Jacob Holyoake to denote "a form of opinion which concerns
itself only with questions, the issues of which can be tested by the experience of this life." More explicitly, he stated,
"Secularism is that which seeks the
development of the physical, moral, and intellectual nature of man
to the highest possible point, as the
immediate duty of life—which inculcates the practical sufficiency
of natural morality apart from Atheism, Theism or the Bible—which
selects
as its method of procedure the promotion of human improvement by
material means, and proposes these positive agreements as the common
bond of union,
to all who would regulate life by reason and ennoble it by service."
("Principles
of Secularism," #17)
And again, "Secularism is a code of duty pertaining to this life
founded on considerations purely human, and intended mainly for those
who find theology indefinite or inadequate, unreliable or unbelievable.” Secularism
Continue—Roots
