Secularism is Religion

Christians have been an embattled people group since the beginning. From the gods of

the Romans and Greeks, to the gods of the Norse, to the gods of every pagan tribe encountered across the world, Christianity has always had a busy schedule confronting the seemingly endless supply of false religions. Granted, it’s not like any of what I’ve just said is breaking news. Pagan and cult religions have existed for millennia. However, for the last century, the greatest among the anti-Christian movements has been Secularism. After having been a primary antagonist for so long, you would think that it would have been met with a far more effective defense by the Church. Previous world-dominant theologies opposing Christianity have crumbled easily by comparison. Secularism, on the other hand, has only continued to grow with a tenacity that, for some, has been a major cause of confusion.

How has Secularism been so successfully evasive? For decades, the separation of church and state has been a favorite fortress of the Secularist movement. Whenever those with Christian values attempt to pose a moral argument against so-called political stances, Secularists do not hesitate to retreat into "separation of church and state" to avoid expending the effort of forming a valid rebuttal. But now, the playing field has changed. The secular Left has the upper hand, allowing them to manipulate the rules in their favor, allowing arguments over the political and arguments over the moral to be the same. You're abusing kids if you don’t condone to your children going on hormone blockers. You're supporting school shootings if you don't get rid of your guns. You're killing grandma if you don't take the Vax. However, all these arguments coming from the left don't stop the frequent and frankly unsurprising double standard of still expecting Christians to maintain the “separation of church and state.” In the eyes of the Secularist, Christian morals are just religious oppression while the ideals of secularism are void of religious ties.

The word "religion" is a derivative of the Latin term "religionem," which is in itself a nominative form of the word "religio." Due to the nature of the Latin language, the word has quite an array of specific uses. However, its general interpretation boils down to the same image: "moral scruples" or "conscientiousness" and the "sanctity" or "worship" related to a deity. Essentially, the foundation of religion is in the concepts of moral codes and the gods from which those codes derive their authority. A religion exists based with a sole focus on its rules. So, how do those things apply to Secularism?

One of the main pulpit-points of Secularism is that it offers a final freedom from religion and the superstitions of the "primitive mind." However, I am here to say that Secularism is, in fact, the single most pervasive religion in our time. The difference, the only difference, is that the familiar terms of religion have been replaced with modern, naturalist jargon designed to throw off anyone looking to call out Secularism for what it really is. In his book on cancel culture, Speechless: Controlling Words, Controlling Minds, Michael Knowles pointed out that "leftists tend to manipulate language by using vague terms and jargon not just to soften but to conceal and even contradict the realities to which they refer." While Mr. Knowles was discussing this tactic, particularly within the context of political correctness, it is a resounding favorite of the Secularist movement. It's the very basis of its ability to survive.

For the sake of clarity and consistency, let the analysis begin with the side of moral codes. A system of morals can come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes and have rules about any and all aspects of a person's life. Despite its claims, Secularism has one of the strictest moral codes of any religion in the modern world. The name has gone through frequent changes, making it more difficult to identify than the typical religion, but it is there if you look closely enough. In Speechless, Knowles confronts this system by one of its more familiar monikers: Political Correctness. Sometimes referred to as "progressive-ism," political correctness touts itself as the rubric by which all people must be judged. This rubric involves judgment not only of actions but of thoughts and feelings as well. For example: If you don't treat a supposed "trans-gender" individual as the identity to which they ascribe themselves, you’re trans-phobic. If you don't believe that everyone with light skin is inherently racist and oppressive, you’re a bigoted racist. And, of course, the most recent addition to the set; if you don't participate in and preach the redemption of the holy communion of the vaccine, you’re a denier of “The Science.” These titles are more than juvenile name-calling. They are synonyms of sin and evil in the Secularist vocabulary.

Appeals to "decency," "humanity," and "love for our fellow man," underpin all these rules. Theirs is the path to righteousness, and all others deserve utter condemnation. There would be no hesitation to dub this a moral code from any other group. However, under the protection of Secularism, there are enough smoke and mirrors to throw you off the trail. Or at least, that's the idea. But, just like an illusion on stage, if you take the time to examine the trick from a slightly different angle, you'll begin to see the mechanisms the trickster wishes to hide. I previously noted that there must be some form of deity to oversee and lend substantiation to a moral code.

The greatest of the Secularist gods and the champion source of their morals is "The Science." Over the events of the past years, The Science has become a household name across the globe. Not to be confused with the time-honored pursuit of knowledge and study of our world, The Science is an entirely separate entity. Actual science and The Science may often run quite contradictory to each other. The Science is free to change its mind whenever there is a benefit to be had. For the Secularist, The Science is an inexorable authority to be followed without quaver or question. "Follow The Science" could be counted as the defining dictum of modern Secularism. Yet why is The Science anything worth following?

According to the dictates of the Secularist world-view, The Science is infallible and will never lead you astray. It is the omniscient authority. This is rather interesting. Merriam-Webster lists several definitions for the concept of a "god," however, high on that list is the concept of "a being or object that is worshiped as having more than natural abilities and powers." Infallibility certainly checks the box of a "more than natural power."

So, what about the use of the term "worship?” Some might very well argue that's a mistake, summoning the images of pews and prayers and choirs singing hymns. It's another example of the twisting of words that Knowles confronted. Relying on Merriam-Webster yet again, we can find that the definition of worship is "to honor or show reverence for, as a divine being or supernatural power." We've already established the Secularist’s reverence for The Science, and when put alongside its supposed supernatural attributes, what else would you call it, except worship? The words by literal definition betray the nature of Secularism, and is it not the Left itself that evangelizes the strength of words?

Despite all this, there will still be those who obstinately insist that Secularism is not a “religion” like Christianity: it is the absence of religion and freedom from oppressive, superstitious piety.

If you listen to Christian radio networks, you may recognize the name of Pastor Bob Davis. If not, he's the head pastor of North Country Chapel, a non-denominational Christian fellowship with a focus on verse-by-verse Bible study. After having listened to the NCC sermons for years, I recently got the opportunity to discuss the issues of Secularism and religion with Pastor Davis. During our interview, he explained that Christianity is not a religion. "Religion," he said, is a whole big list of Do's and Don'ts." He went on to point out the fact that Christianity is a personal relationship with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He provided the analogy of a relationship with a significant other.

It can be all too easy to turn your interactions with your loved one into a religion. For example, you MUST act a certain way around your friends because it's how a couple is supposed to act. You MUST pass on regular generic lines and compliments because that's how a couple should act. But that isn't a relationship. A genuine relationship means you can forgo the fragile, superficial ritual and simply be together because you truly derive joy just from being in one another's presence. In Romans 8, verses 38 and 39, the Apostle Paul wrote: "For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." This Scripture assures us that, even though we are sinners, Jesus loves us for who we are. He wants us to be with Him.

In the Old Testament there are more than 600 laws the Jews were required to follow, living under the Old Covenant. As sinful humans living in a fallen world, they were laws that were inevitably impossible to keep perfectly. Thus, among those many laws were rules for regular sacrifices meant to cover the sins of the people with the blood of animals. But the blood of animals was never enough to completely wash away the transgressions against the Law. No mere human could ever repay the debt required for our sin, and for that reason, the Lord provided a route for redemption.

Thus, we read in John 3:16 and 17, under the New Covenant, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved.” The only requirement to receive this free eternal gift is to accept it by the grace given through faith in Him. When Jesus paid the debt of our sin, it meant that the Followers of Christ are no longer bound to the Law of the Old Covenant. It is the relationship that causes us to live our lives in a way that pleases our Lord.

Now let us turn our lens back on The Science. The Science is nothing but a massive repository of rules for the masses to follow. Those rules may constantly shift, sometimes in the blink of an eye, but they are rules nonetheless—A whole big list of Dos and Don'ts from an authority which by its sole concept can change its mind whenever it sees fit. By contrast, the God of Scripture tells us that He will never change His mind. Hebrews 13:8 says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” “For I the Lord do not change,” Malachi 3:6. “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever,” Isaiah 40:8. I prefer to follow the One True God I know I can trust to be rock steady.

Secularism loves to toss around its claims of religious neutrality, posing itself as the only possible route to truth and disparaging anyone who might dare to speak on the principles of the Word of God. “Don’t bother with all those mystical fairy tales and self-righteous rules. You can be a good person too, if you do everything we say, and think what we tell you to think.” Place this mentality alongside the same straw-man image that secularism paints of Christianity, and the irony is comical. If Christians can expose Secularism for its deeply religious nature, then challenging its canon from the position of strength through faith in following Jesus Christ will become much more accessible. At the closing of our interview, in his signature style of common-sense-wisdom, Pastor Davis said, "Everything becomes a religion if you're not careful. Jesus just said 'Follow me.'"

Once a nation resting on Biblical principles, American culture has long been dominated by Secularism. The products of that shift have truly begun to manifest more and more rapidly in these last few years. Secularism seeks to immunize itself to Christianity's arguments against opposing religions by framing itself as residing in its own class. How can we expect to defend against something on which we can't land a blow? “Separation of church and state” has been a weapon just as much as a defense. In today’s culture, it’s a phrase used to frame Christians as cheating in the geopolitical game simply by having guiding principles based in the Bible. A Christian can hardly begin to espouse an argument of Judaeo-Christian origin before being slapped aside for failing to maintain the separation of church and state. However, if more Christians were willing to pull back the curtains, and call out Secularism for what it is, then Secularists would no longer be able to utilize such a cheap shot without making themselves vulnerable to the very same attack. Christians, assert the truth and be unapologetically vigilant in its application, that more might be made aware of the threat of Secularism; it is a religion.

Works Cited

Knowles, Michael. Speechless: Controlling Words, Controlling Minds. Regnery Publishing, 2021

“god.” Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, 2022. Web. 24 March 2022.

“worship.” Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, 2022. Web. 24 March 2022.

“Romans 8 (KJV) - For I am persuaded, that.” Blue Letter Bible. Web. 25 March, 2022. https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/rom/8/38/s_105403.

“John 3 (KJV) - For God so loved the.” Blue Letter Bible. Web. 25 March, 2022. https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/jhn/3/16-17/s_1000016.

“Hebrews 13 (KJV) - Jesus Christ the same yesterday,” Blue Letter Bible. Web. 25 March,

2022. https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/heb/13/8/s_1146008.

“Malachi 3 (KJV) - For I [am] the Lord,.” Blue Letter Bible. Web. 25 March, 2022. https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/mal/3/6/s_928006.

“Isaiah 40 (KJV) - The grass withereth, the flower.” Blue Letter Bible. Web. 25 March, 2022. https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/isa/40/8/s_719008.