Out of a living silence

What does it mean to be secular?

The word “secular” derives from the calsssical Latin saeculum, which means the period of one human generation. The adjectival form of the word, saecularis, means pertaining to a generation, especially to the current generation. In medieval Latin the word saecularis came to refer to those concerns of the current era, which meant those concerns of life in this world, as opposed to the heavenly realm or the afterlife in general. During the time of the European Enlightenment, there was in some circles a celebration of political secularism, that is, government not dominated by the religious establishment. When the United States of America was being formed, several of the most influential founding fathers, such as Thomas Jefferson and James Madison and others strongly influenced by Enlightenment thinkers, favored a form of government that was free of the influence of religious dogmas of all kinds. Government was to be guided by moral principles, so long as that morality was secular and humanistic in nature. Their thinking was reflected in The First Amendment of the United States Constitution, which reads:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Congress is prohibited by that amendment from making any religion the established religion of the United States, and it is also prohibited from outlawing any religion or prohibiting people from practicing the religion of their choice. The United States, in other words, was meant to be a secular nation. There is, however, more to secularism than that. It is to those further dimensions of secularism that we now turn.

The generations now living and those to come

The need for secularism in the original sense of a focus on concerns facing our times has never been more urgent. The human race is collectively undermining the ability of its planet to sustain not only human life but the life of countless other species that live on the land and in rivers, ponds, lakes, lagoons, and oceans. This is a time in which human beings, the species doing the most to degrade biological habitats, must take stock of the consequences of habits they have cultivated during the past few centuries. Many, if not most, of those habits must be changed dramatically, and many must be abandoned altogether. Knowing which of those habits must be changed or abandoned requires the guidance of unbiased evidence-based thinking. Many of the traditional religions around the world are of little use in coming to terms with what must be done; some traditonal religions are actually obstacles to the kind of thinking that is required to solve the problems the human race has created for itself and for other species of plant and animal life. In recent human history there has never been a time in which there was a greater urgency to be secular. Being secular in that sense may be aided by having a poetic spirit.

What does it mean to be spiritual?

As with the word “secular,” it may be instructive to look at how the word was used in classical languages. The Latin word spiritus is derived from the verb spirare (to breathe, to blow). Spiritus, therefore, means breath. Spiritus was the word the Latin-speaking world used to translate the Greek πνευμα, which also means breath, or the vital principle that dwells within the soul (ψυχή, anima) and therefore distinguishes animate from inanimate beings. In the works of some of the Stoics, πνευμα (pneuma) was seen as the organizing principle of both the human ψυχή (psyché) and of the entire cosmos. It is in the latter sense that I like to use the word “spirit”; it is that which indwells and organizes everything in the universe and therefore that which unites the human being with all other beings, both animate and inanimate. It is that which Quakers call that of God in everyone (and I would add in everything), or what Hindus call ātman, or what Buddhists call Buddha-nature.[1]

Secular spirituality

The call to be secular in the sense of tending to the most urgent concerns of the present and future generations can of course be answered without any reference to being spiritual. One can study physics, chemistry, biology, and engineering and apply that knowledge to living sustainably on our planet. There are plenty of people who do that, and we all benefit from their commitment. What is gained by thinking in terms of spiritual secularism or secular spirituality is, for those who need it, a sense of personal engagement based on the realization that what is good for other living beings (and also for such inanimate beings as marshlands, rivers, prairies, and other ecosystems) is also ultimately good for oneself.[2] Caring for the well-being of the planet is a way of caring for one’s one physical health, one’s psychological health, and one’s character. Conversely, caring for one’s one physical health, one’s psychological health, and one’s character—in other words, living spiritually—entails caring for other human beings, for all animals, for all plants, and for the soil, the landbound waterways, and the oceans.

No one can tell another exactly how to be spiritually secular, but the more people learn for themselves how to be spiritually secular, the better off we, and those who have yet to come into this world after us, will be.