“Secularism” is on the decline in the West too. It’s full of fanatics. Secularism requires not the absence of belief, but the absence of fanaticism. Odd that it should have reached its peak in the early 2000s when much that is now deemed anathema was prevalent.
New York Times
“JAKARTA, Indonesia — The deadly attacks in Sri Lanka on Sunday highlighted how easily religious coexistence can be ripped apart in a region where secularism is weakening amid the growing appeal of a politics based on ethnic and sectarian identity.
In India, the country’s governing right-wing Hindu party is exploiting faith for votes, pushing an us-versus-them philosophy that has left Muslims fearing they will be lynched if they walk alone.
In Myanmar, the country’s Buddhist generals have orchestrated a terrifying campaign of ethnic cleansing against the country’s Rohingya Muslims.”