Editing Secularization (section)

== History ==
Secularism's origins can be traced to the Bible itself and fleshed out throughout Christian history into the modern era.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Berlinerblau |first1=Jacques |title=Secularism: The Basics |date=2022 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9780367691585 |page=4 |quote=In the first part of this book we will chart the slow, unsteady development of political secularism (Set 2) across time and space. You might be surprised to see that we'll trace its origins to the Bible. From there we will watch how secularism's core principles emerged, in dribs and drabs, during the Christian Middle Ages, the Protestant Reformation, and the Enlightenment. Secularism, some might be surprised to learn, has a religious genealogy.}}</ref> "[[Secular]]" is a part of the Christian church's history, which even has ''secular clergy'' since the medieval period.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Thomas |first1=Hugh M. |title=The Secular Clergy in England, 1066-1216 |date=2014 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780198702566}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Eller |first1=Jack David |title=Introducing Anthropology of Religion : Culture to the Ultimate |date=2022 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781032023045 |edition=Third |page=282}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=April 2011 |title=Secular Priest |url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/religion-past-and-present/secular-priest-SIM_124156 |website=Religion Past and Present Online |publisher=Brill}}</ref> Furthermore, secular and religious entities were not separated in the medieval period, but coexisted and interacted naturally.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Tierney |first1=Brian |title=The Crisis of Church and State, 1050-1300 : With Selected Documents |date=1988 |publisher=Published by University of Toronto Press in association with the Medieval Academy of America |isbn=9780802067012 |location=Toronto}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Strayer |first1=Joseph R. |title=On the Medieval Origins of the Modern State |date=2016 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=9780691169330 |location=Princeton}}</ref> Significant contributions to principles used in modern secularism came from prominent theologians and Christian writers such as [[St. Augustine]], [[William of Ockham]], [[Marsilius of Padua]], [[Martin Luther]], [[Roger Williams]], [[John Locke]] and [[Talleyrand]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Berlinerblau |first1=Jacques |title=Secularism: The Basics |date=2022 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9780367691585 |page=35}}</ref>

The term "secularization" also has additional meanings, primarily historical and religious.<ref>Casanova, Jose (1994).  ''Public Religions in the Modern World''.  University of Chicago Press, pg. 13. {{ISBN|0-226-09535-5}}</ref>  Applied to [[Secularization (church property)|church property]], historically it refers to the seizure of church lands and buildings, such as [[Henry VIII]]'s 16th-century [[dissolution of the monasteries]] in England and the later acts during the 18th-century [[French Revolution]], as well as by various [[Anti-clericalism|anti-clerical]] [[Enlightened absolutism|enlightened absolutist]] European governments during the 18th and 19th centuries, which resulted in the expulsion and suppression of the religious communities which occupied them. The 19th-century ''[[Kulturkampf]]'' in Germany and Switzerland and similar events in many other countries also were expressions of secularization.<ref>Gould, Andrew in: ''Origins of Liberal Dominance: State, Church, and Party in Nineteenth-century Europe'', University of Michigan Press, 1999, p. 82, {{ISBN|978-0-472-11015-5}}</ref>

The term "secularization" can also mean the lifting of monastic restrictions from a member of the clergy,<ref>{{cite web |title=secularization |url=http://www.thefreedictionary.com/secularization |access-date=2 May 2018 |via=The Free Dictionary}}</ref> and to [[deconsecration]], removing the consecration of a religious building so that it may be used for other purposes.<ref>{{cite web |author=Donald S. Armentrout and Robert Boak Slocum |date=2000 |title=Secularizing a Consecrated Building |url=https://www.episcopalchurch.org/glossary/secularizing-a-consecrated-building/ |website=An Episcopal Dictionary of the Church |publisher=The Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society |quote=This service is used to deconsecrate and secularize a consecrated building that is to be taken down or used for other purposes.}}</ref> The first use of "secular" as a change from religion to the mundane is from the 16th century that referred to transforming ecclesiastical possessions for civil purposes, such as monasteries to hospitals; and by the 19th century it gained traction as a political object of secularist movements.<ref name="Latre" /> In the 20th century, "secularization" had diversified into various versions in light of the diversity of experiences from different cultures and institutions.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Glasner |first1=Peter E. |title=The Sociology of Secularisation : A Critique of a Concept |date=1977 |publisher=Routledge & K. Paul |isbn=9780710084552 |location=London}}</ref> Scholars recognize that secularity is structured by Protestant models of Christianity, shares a parallel language to religion, and intensifies Protestant features such as iconoclasm and skepticism towards rituals, and emphasizes beliefs.<ref name="sec para">{{cite book |last1=Blankholm |first1=Joseph |title=The Secular Paradox : On the Religiosity of the Not Religious |date=2022 |publisher=New York University Press |isbn=9781479809509 |location=New York |page=8}}</ref> In doing so, secularism perpetuates Christian traits under a different name.<ref name="sec para" />

Still another form of secularization refers to the act of [[Prince-bishop|Prince-Bishops]] or holders of a position in a [[Monasticism|Monastic]] or [[Military order (religious society)|Military Order]] - holding a combined religious and secular authority under the Catholic Church - who broke away and made themselves into completely secular (typically, [[Protestantism|Protestant]]) hereditary rulers. For example, [[Gotthard Kettler]] (1517–1587), the last Master of the [[Livonian Order]], converted to [[Lutheranism]],  secularised (and took to himself) the lands of [[Semigallia]] and [[Courland]] which he had held on behalf of the order – which enabled him to marry and leave to his descendants the [[Duchy of Courland and Semigallia]]. Perhaps the most widely known example of such secularization is that of 1525, which led to the establishment of [[Prussia]], a state which would later become a major power in European politics.

The 1960s saw a trend toward increasing secularization in Western Europe, North America, Australia, and New Zealand. This transformation accompanied major social factors: economic prosperity, youth rebelling against the rules and conventions of society, [[sexual revolution]], [[Women's liberation movement|women's liberation]], radical theology, and radical politics.<ref>
Jeffrey Cox, "Secularization and other master narratives of religion in modern Europe." ''Kirchliche Zeitgeschichte'' (2001): 24-35.
</ref> A study found evidence that a rise in secularization generally has preceded economic growth over the past century. The multilevel, time-lagged regressions also indicate that tolerance for individual rights predicted 20th century economic growth even better than secularization.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ruck |first1=Damian J. |last2=Bentley |first2=R. Alexander |last3=Lawson |first3=Daniel J. |date=2018 |title=Religious change preceded economic change in the 20th century |journal=[[Science Advances]] |volume=4 |issue=7 |pages=eaar8680 |bibcode=2018SciA....4.8680R |doi=10.1126/sciadv.aar8680 |pmc=6051740 |pmid=30035222 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

According to another study, the rise of [[automation]] ([[robotics]] and [[AI]]) could accelerate secularization throughout the 21st century in many world regions, even though "this correlation does not prove any meaningful connection between automation and religious decline". The findings suggest that automation may reduce the instrumental value of religion, as technology provides secular alternatives for solving problems traditionally addressed by religion.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Jackson |first1=Joshua Conrad |last2=Yam |first2=Kai Chi |last3=Tang |first3=Pok Man |last4=Sibley |first4=Chris G. |last5=Waytz |first5=Adam |date=2023 |title=Exposure to automation explains religious declines |journal=[[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America|Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences]] |volume=120 |issue=34 |pages=e2304748120 |doi=10.1073/pnas.2304748120 |pmc=10450436 |pmid=37579178 |doi-access=free|bibcode=2023PNAS..12004748J }}</ref>