Religion & Spirituality
Secularism is a hot topic in public, political, and religious debate across the globe. It is embodied in the conflict between secular republics – from the US to India – and a new, resurgent religious identity politics. In the last few years we’ve seen the resurgence of evangelical ethnonationalism in the US, Hindu nationalism brought to the fore by the BJP in India, and an ever louder drumbeat of horrors inflicted on Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang by the authoritarian Chinese government. What, though, is “secularism”, and why is it important?