Secular: Definition

[Wolfstarr]

Ok I admit I had no idea what that word meant.

For those of us who don't have a clue what it means, here is the definition:

sec·u·lar Pronunciation (sky-lr)
adj.
1. Worldly rather than spiritual.
2. Not specifically relating to religion or to a religious body: secular music.
3. Relating to or advocating secularism.
4. Not bound by monastic restrictions, especially not belonging to a religious order. Used of the clergy.
5. Occurring or observed once in an age or century.
6. Lasting from century to century.
n.
1. A member of the secular clergy.
2. A layperson.

Just thought I would share...

[undrunken]

I only disagree with the pronunciation in fear that I have been saying it wrong for twenty-five years.
There are secular movements that respect religious faith and treat all people with love and kindness. It is the absence of a dogma that makes secularism an infinite resource. Attacks on any God are atheism, not secularism in general.
I may be completely crazy, but I embrace a religious faith and a worldly one at the same time.

[paulmh]

I have a Higher Power since coming into AA and I remain secular. The only thing recovery has reinforced in me is that i just Don't Know. And that's ok for me now. I can hand it over, I can believe with all my heart in a power greater than myself that can restore me to sanity. I don't know what I am, but I know it's only my ego that tries to convince me that it really matters. Peace knows no bounds. It's incomparable to what I had, and if people here have the same feeling bu use different language to describe it, who am I to disagree.

[Blake]

"secular spirituality" (although somewhat oxymoronic) is a common term used today to define a belief system based on compasion and ethics free of religious dogma.

http://www.google.com/search?q=%22se...en-US:official

[doorknob]

Originally Posted by undrunken

Attacks on any God are atheism, not secularism in general.

Atheism is the absence of belief in a theistic deity. It's not an attack on anything.

[doorknob]

Originally Posted by paulmh

I have a Higher Power since coming into AA and I remain secular. The only thing recovery has reinforced in me is that i just Don't Know. And that's ok for me now. I can hand it over, I can believe with all my heart in a power greater than myself that can restore me to sanity. I don't know what I am, but I know it's only my ego that tries to convince me that it really matters. Peace knows no bounds. It's incomparable to what I had, and if people here have the same feeling bu use different language to describe it, who am I to disagree.

They actually do have AA meetings that are entirely secular (free of religious/spiritual content). Most there reject the need for a HP. Is your HP of a secular nature?

[paulmh]

Doorknob says:

Is your HP of a secular nature?

I don't know. I'll ask him.

:kidding:

I'm in danger of hijacking a thread again. I find this difficult to explain. AA taught me that the cause of all my problems is in me. I choose to call it Pride. Here's a bit of the wikipedia definition of Pride from the seven deadly sins -

Pride is known as the father of all sins. Pride is a desire to be more important or attractive to others, failing to give credit due to others, or excessive love of self (especially holding self out of proper position toward God). Dante's definition was "love of self perverted to hatred and contempt for one's neighbor".

That's me as an alcoholic. Note the bit about "holding self out of proper position to God". The antidote to that is to have a proper sense of one's self in the universe - in other words to live with a sense of the Higher Power. But this is a personal experience - it's not about what the nature of the universe is, which is something beyond my ken, but it's about what my nature is, which is something within my ken. If I cultivate what are traiditionally called Virtues - humility and honesty being most relevant here - I can offset the damage that Pride does me. As people in my AA rooms in the UK so often say - I don't have to believe in God. I just have to stop believing it's me.

Sorry to go off topic again.

[doorknob]

Originally Posted by paulmh

As people in my AA rooms in the UK so often say - I don't have to believe in God. I just have to stop believing it's me.

Hey Paul,

Thanks for the explanation. But... you didn't really believe that you were God, did you? I'm assuming that is metaphorical. BTW, they say that in AA in the US as well.

Paul

[undrunken]

Originally Posted by doorknob

Atheism is the absence of belief in a theistic deity. It's not an attack on anything.

Good point. I stand corrected.