Issue 6

Secularism

Orthodox Christians, perhaps more than most faith groups, have a complicated relationship with secularism—in the sense of laïcité, the separation of public institutions and religion. In our historical memory, we know what it is to be ensconced as the official state religion, and to have our interests bound up with those of an imperial government; and we know equally well what it is to be marginalized and persecuted. In the US, where Protestantism is the dominant faith, the freedom we enjoy as Orthodox owes as much to secularism as it does to the primacy of Christianity.

At the same time, laïcité is only one of the multiple meanings that the term “secular” conjures up. In the Middle Ages, it first referred to chronological (as opposed to liturgical, or sacred) time, and it was gradually expanded to describe every part of human life that wasn’t directly associated with the church. But even though Christianity gave rise to this language, Christian theology has also always challenged any binary opposition between the earthly and the sacred.

This issue will explore questions of secularism on both the socio-political plane and at the level of spirituality and church life.