विमर्श

Summary

The text discusses the relationship between secularism, the state, and religion, particularly in the context of Europe. It notes that debates about secularism or religious neutrality often overlook the fact that secularism is not merely about religion but also about the structure of society. The development of secularism in Europe occurred alongside the development of the modern state. Under the modern concept of the state, the state is no longer just one of many organizations within a society but becomes the master or controller of society. Religion is described as the expression of a society's spiritual and moral sensibility, while the state is the expression of its political sensibility. However, the sovereignty of the state implies that society's spiritual-moral sensibility and its expression come under the control of the state system. The text argues that the political sensibility in a state system is as limited as the moral-spiritual sensibility in a religious system. In Europe, the political sensibility and spiritual sensibility did not face the same conflict as that between state systems and religious systems. Because both fundamental sensibilities became hollow, both became rigid and merely systems. For the sake of establishing the system, each became oppressive in its own way.