Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Secularism" in English language version.
Last modified:
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: periodical has ISBN (link)It is commonplace today to note that the term "secular" is of Western origin—and not originally antagonistic to religion ("secular priests" were hardly averse to religion). Frankly, "secular" is not inherently related to religion at all: denoting "of the current age" or "of the present generation," it could apply to any subject...Some societies, as anthropology has discovered, do not even have a term or concept for "religion" and therefore obviously do not have a concept akin to our "secular." For the purposes of the present chapter, they do not have "secular experience" at all, since "the secular"—like religion—is nowhere and everywhere...What investigators can and should do is discover how particular groups, institutions, and societies talk about and practice secularism—if in fact they do at all—rather than to impose a speciously unified concept, derived from one society's experience, on all places and times.
It is commonplace today to note that the term "secular" is of Western origin—and not originally antagonistic to religion ("secular priests" were hardly averse to religion). Frankly, "secular" is not inherently related to religion at all: denoting "of the current age" or "of the present generation," it could apply to any subject...Some societies, as anthropology has discovered, do not even have a term or concept for "religion" and therefore obviously do not have a concept akin to our "secular." For the purposes of the present chapter, they do not have "secular experience" at all, since "the secular"—like religion—is nowhere and everywhere...What investigators can and should do is discover how particular groups, institutions, and societies talk about and practice secularism—if in fact they do at all—rather than to impose a speciously unified concept, derived from one society's experience, on all places and times.
A survey in Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and neighboring Vietnam finds many people don't identify with a religion but say they believe in unseen beings, venerate ancestors' spirits and engage in ritual practices.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)