Secularism in different cultural contexts..

Hello,
I apologize if this is not the right place to post this thread.
just to give some background to the idea, I am a Middle Eastern, and a Muslim woman.
I do not believe in applying religious theories to politics, economics, or science…etc, but at the same time, I believe in god, I do pray and fast Ramadan, wear Hejab,and other religious practices, but nothing more. I think religions are there to worship, and you can apply religious practices in a personal level, and that’s all.
I have been called secular many times. For the middle eastern mindset, this is secularism because the majority believe in applying Sharia instated of secularism.
What I found here in this form, and other websites, is that : secular = non- religious= you can be atheist, deist, and agnostic…etc but not theist" as I understood", what intrigued me is how “secularism” can be restructured in different cultural contexts. how the world itself can hold different meanings depending on the culture.
Now, from American and European perspective, am I secular? or not? what do you classified someone who holds beliefs like what I hold? I just moved to the U.S to study, and it is hard to answer some questions when I interact with my American friends, or professors…etc due to the different backgrounds.

Hello, I apologize if this is not the right place to post this thread. just to give some background to the idea, I am a Middle Eastern, and a Muslim woman. I do not believe in applying religious theories to politics, economics, or science..etc, but at the same time, I believe in god, I do pray and fast Ramadan, wear Hejab,and other religious practices, but nothing more. I think religions are there to worship, and you can apply religious practices in a personal level, and that's all. I have been called secular many times. For the middle eastern mindset, this is secularism because the majority believe in applying Sharia instated of secularism. What I found here in this form, and other websites, is that : secular = non- religious= you can be atheist, deist, and agnostic...etc but not theist" as I understood", what intrigued me is how "secularism" can be restructured in different cultural contexts. how the world itself can hold different meanings depending on the culture. Now, from American and European perspective, am I secular? or not? what do you classified someone who holds beliefs like what I hold? I just moved to the U.S to study, and it is hard to answer some questions when I interact with my American friends, or professors..etc due to the different backgrounds.
Secularism is not using any religious beliefs or standards when setting up or running a government, it doesn't mean the population may not hold its own beliefs. The perfect system would be the way the US government was supposed to have been set up, but failed in the execution. Religion was supposed to be completely separate from governance. Unfortunately, some religious aspects were sneaked in, so the US is not completely secular. However, as with most things, half a loaf is better than none. The meaning of "secular" does not mean that the population is banned from believing anything it wishes to believe in. It simply means that the governmemt will not be affected by any religious belief system. Nor should it act in preference of one belief system over another. Religion should be completely outside governmemt affairs and should not affect governmemtal decisions. That is what is meant by a secular government. A secular governmemt does not address or consider people's beliefs beyond keeping the governmemt unaffected by the religious beliefs of the population, whatever they are. You asked how you should be classified regarding your beliefs. You should not be classified in any way except as aperson who has a right to her beliefs. Your beliefs have nothing to do with a secular government as long as you are not breaking the law, otherwise. For example, if your religion says you can murder or torture people, or discriminate against them you would not be able to act on those beliefs without being brought to justice. The secular governmemt has determined and ruled that no one may ignore its laws. As long as it came to that conclusion without favoring one religion over another, it is within its rights to ban such actions by everyone, no matter what their religion tells them. But people are free to believe whatever they wish. It's their actions that can be banned. Thanks for the intelligent question.
Hello, I apologize if this is not the right place to post this thread. just to give some background to the idea, I am a Middle Eastern, and a Muslim woman. I do not believe in applying religious theories to politics, economics, or science..etc, but at the same time, I believe in god, I do pray and fast Ramadan, wear Hejab,and other religious practices, but nothing more. I think religions are there to worship, and you can apply religious practices in a personal level, and that's all. I have been called secular many times. For the middle eastern mindset, this is secularism because the majority believe in applying Sharia instated of secularism. What I found here in this form, and other websites, is that : secular = non- religious= you can be atheist, deist, and agnostic...etc but not theist" as I understood", what intrigued me is how "secularism" can be restructured in different cultural contexts. how the world itself can hold different meanings depending on the culture. Now, from American and European perspective, am I secular? or not? what do you classified someone who holds beliefs like what I hold? I just moved to the U.S to study, and it is hard to answer some questions when I interact with my American friends, or professors..etc due to the different backgrounds.
Secularism in an American context means religion is kept out of lawmaking, that's all.
Hello, I apologize if this is not the right place to post this thread. just to give some background to the idea, I am a Middle Eastern, and a Muslim woman. I do not believe in applying religious theories to politics, economics, or science..etc, but at the same time, I believe in god, I do pray and fast Ramadan, wear Hejab,and other religious practices, but nothing more. I think religions are there to worship, and you can apply religious practices in a personal level, and that's all. I have been called secular many times. For the middle eastern mindset, this is secularism because the majority believe in applying Sharia instated of secularism. What I found here in this form, and other websites, is that : secular = non- religious= you can be atheist, deist, and agnostic...etc but not theist" as I understood", what intrigued me is how "secularism" can be restructured in different cultural contexts. how the world itself can hold different meanings depending on the culture. Now, from American and European perspective, am I secular? or not? what do you classified someone who holds beliefs like what I hold? I just moved to the U.S to study, and it is hard to answer some questions when I interact with my American friends, or professors..etc due to the different backgrounds.
Secularism is simply a separation between religion and state. You can be religious and secular at the same time. The way I see it many religious people (Christians and Muslims alike) are led to believe that secular means anti-god/anti-religion, which is not true. I view this as some kind of a smear campaign towards secularism by redefining its meaning, because I believe secularism exist to guarantee religious freedom. But this is done by limiting religious expression in public spaces, which is why religions tend to oppose it and at the end "the nones" take ownership of this word. In my country, where most people are religious, the word "secular" means "worldly". People here don't like it. They want something spiritual. But when asked about whether or not government should be involved in religious matter, they said religion is a personal matter. So, they actually agree with secularism, sort of, but they don't like the word secular. "To you your religion and to me mine". It is actually in the line with secularism. But then, there is the Sharia, which in my opinion, contradictory to this verse. But people actually had found a way to get around it. I live in a place that the Western world consider as a secular Muslim nation. Due to an increase of Islamic extremism, there are many Muslims who are very vocal against turning this place into an Islamic nation. They view Sharia not as an implementation of laws literally taken from the Koran, but as an implementation of justice that brings justice not only for Muslim, but non Muslim as well.