"Despite voluminous study of religion, there has been very little direct research focusing on secular or nonreligious people and social forms. The idea of a social science of secularity or nonreligion is quite new. But what, actually, is the subject, and what should be the proper focus, content, and scope of such a field of study? Alternative approaches to the study of unbelief, irreligion, atheism, nonreligion, and secularity have been proposed in recent years. The strengths and weaknesses of each, particularly the study of nonreligion and secularity, are considered. The value of simultaneously pursuing multiple conceptions and approaches to the subject as this new field of study coalesces is proposed." (excerpt from The Study of Secularity and the Nonreligious by Phil Zuckerman, Luke W. Galen and Frank L. Pasquale)
When talking of mankind, non-religious [or: irreligious] would mean someone who does not belong to any religious domination. Unlike the atheist, the non-religious person can be a:
- Theist - the belief in one God as the creator and ruler of the universe, without rejection of revelation.
- Deist - belief in a God who created the world but has since remained indifferent to it.
- Pantheist - the doctrine that God is the transcendent reality of which the material universe and human beings are only manifestations: it involves a denial of God's personality and expresses a tendency to identify God and nature.
They need not be strictly secular, agnostic or atheist in this sense. However, most people associate the non-religious with such ideologies. According to a study, "as the ranks of the religiously unaffiliated continue to grow, they also describe themselves in increasingly secular terms," such as, "atheists," "agnostics," or "nothing in particular." Secular means "of or relating to the physical world and not the spiritual world" or just "not religious."
Agnostic is a position. That of not knowing if a god or gods exists. You can be agnostic theist, agnostic atheist, agnostic pantheist, agnostic deist, etc. Given the current lack of proofs for existence of, or against existence of god or gods, it is by far the most logical positions. Agnostics are those who haven't yet made a decision regarding God's existence; they are non-religious, but neither are they atheists. It means that non religious people might believe in God in future or they might remain as they are. Whereas Atheists have a conclusion that there is no God, an agnostic neither believes nor disbelieves in a god or religious doctrine. To complicate matters, atheists and agnostics are often confused with theists and deists. A theist is the opposite of an atheist.
Atheist means someone who does not believe in any god, or someone who believes god does not exist. Both definitions work. First is logical; Second without proof is not. Its other counterparts are theists, deists, pantheists, etc.
Here are seven of the most atheist countries in the world:
- China
- Japan
- Czech Republic
- France
- Norway
- Australia
- Iceland
As far back as 1772, Baron d'Holbach said that "All children are born Atheists; they have no idea of God." Similarly, George H. Smith (1979) suggested that: "The man who is unacquainted with theism is an atheist because he does not believe in a god." According to sociologists Ariela Keysar and Juhem Navarro-Rivera's review of numerous global studies on atheism, there are 450 to 500 million positive atheists and agnostics worldwide (7% of the world's population), with China having the most atheists in the world (200 million convinced atheists).
Secular religion. ... Among systems that have been characterized as secular religions are capitalism, communism, anarchism, fascism, nationalism, Auguste Comte's Religion of Humanity and the Cult of Reason and Cult of the Supreme Being that developed after the French Revolution. Secularization refers to the declining influence of religion and religious values within a given culture. Secular humanism means, loosely, a belief in human self-sufficiency.
Secular things are not religious. Anything not affiliated with a church or faith can be called secular. Non-religious people can be called atheists or agnostics, but to describe things, activities, or attitudes that have nothing to do with religion, you can use the word secular.
Secularism in India means equal treatment of all religions by the state. With the 42nd Amendment of the Constitution of India enacted in 1976, the Preamble to the Constitution asserted that India is a secular nation. However, neither India's constitution nor its laws define the relationship between religion and state.
At the time the United States was founded, essentially all European nations had a state religion, and a monarch who ruled “by the grace of God,” or some similar formulation. When the United States chose not to enshrine a state religion, they became the original secular western nation. France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and many others would eventually follow this path of secularization, but they were following a trail originally blazed by the United States.
A 2002 survey by Adherents.com estimates the proportion of the world's people who are "secular, non-religious, agnostics and atheists" at about 14%. According to Pew Research Center's 2012 global study of 230 countries and territories, 16% of the world's population is not affiliated with a religion, while 84% are affiliated.
