Secular Big Story. The Secular Big
Story is a fairly new story when compared to the other
two. As mentioned, the Scientific/Scientism Big Stories have secularizing
traits in that they, in the main, reject traditional
Abrahamic claims about a supernatural realm, gods and
goddesses, knowing through a divine book of revelation, and so forth.
This secularizing trend within the
Scientific/Scientism Big Story influenced the early Secular Big Story
as it rejected the traditional Divine Right of
Kings. It set forth a declaration of Human Rights
to supercede the tradition of Divine Right. For many, Secularism is
still primarily a political movement that seeks separation
between church (Abrahamic tradition) and governance
of the modern nation state. The high point of the Divine
Right phase was the Papal anointing of a king as “Holy
Roman Emperor.” The high point of the human rights phase
was the French Revolution’s decapitation of the
king and the American Revolution’s articulation of “We,
the People.”
In brief, whenever an individual or a group states
that there is an authority that is above
or beyond or outside of everyday common-sensing, the Secularist will
protest and seek to create a human rights and common-sense
alternative.
The Secular Big Story does not reference
a tradition with well defined doctrines and dogmas,
nor a profusion of ceremonial rituals, nor authoritative
institutions. While individuals will claim to be secular, and scholars
will cite a “secularizing” influence or trend, there is
no indisputable or authoritative definition
of “secular” or “secularizing.”
Most Secularist accept scientific findings and are
receptive to Scientism interpretations, e.g., the theory
of evolution. For Secularists there is no separate realm of sacred reality
called spirit or the supernatural, so there never was nor could be a
place like the Garden of Eden. Anything which is described as “spiritual”
or “extrasensory” is loose language
that, when examined, ultimately refers to a material and/or
physical characteristic of humans.
There are no precious places. There
is only human space and time, and that is sufficient.
There is no sense of being in exile. No longing for
this life on Earth to end so that life in eternity
with god can begin anew.
Continue—Secularism
