“I’m Religious!” “No, I am!”: Chill, You Both Are Religion is a funny thing. When individuals are overtly religious, there are considered conservative crazies. When they are irreligious, they are considered liberal heathens. That is not an accurate statement because even liberal heathens have a religion: secular humanism. Secular humanism is technically a functional religion because of the role it plays in contemporary society. While religion may be popularly considered as an organized set of personal morals and beliefs, secular humanism is a guiding principle that forces the separation of church and state, but has grown to have a major role in society. This role that secularism plays in society is problematic because it establishes an ongoing culture war that has pitted the “conservative crazies” and the “liberal …show more content…
Secular values may not have content, but play a role in social lives, in society, or in the psyches of individuals, like the functional definition of religion. Its most defining features are that instead of explaining the world, like a substantive religion, it is meant to be a support system to help people survive. However, what separates secular humanism is the lack of self actualization, in that it does not call itself a religion. Substantively, it would not qualify as a religion because it does not have the same focus or ideological commitment that “real” religions, such as Christianity, Islam, Judaism, or Buddhism have. While secular humanism may function in the lives of individuals and communities as a religion, it is silent and nameless, unaddressed and unassuming, but always lurking. It is always there as an option, but never fully called to the forefront when an individual thinks of religion. In a broader sense, Hunter explains a larger source of cultural tension, but fails to acknowledge the contradictions that