Word: seculare
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With so many suitors, the newly independent states have been wary of making geopolitical commitments. Askar Akayev, President of Kyrgyzstan, wants his country to be "politically like Switzerland, but in the heart of Asia." Foreign Minister Abdu Kuliyev believes Turkmenistan should be "neither Islamic nor Soviet but a secular, democratic state." President Nursultan * Nazarbayev thinks Kazakhstan, which stretches from the Volga region of Russia to the western borders of China, should be a bridge between Europe and Asia. Says he: "We want to enter the democratic world like any other state...
...others, the secular songs that we performed represented something new (and "fresh" or "dope," if you will). The lyrics were often as meaningless as anything that you would hear on Kiss 108 or WZOU, but it didn't seem to matter. The most important thing was they were fun. Imagine that--something at Harvard that Makes you happy...
...mainstream churches have tried in various ways to adapt themselves to a secular age. The Roman Catholic Church made its liturgy accessible in the vernacular and turned increasingly from saving souls to saving society. The major Protestant denominations also increasingly emphasized social activism and tried to dilute dogma to accommodate 20th century rationality and diversity. Churches not only permitted the ordination of women -- long overdue -- but are seriously debating the ordination of homosexuals and the sanctioning of homosexual marriages. Fin de siecle...
...daily lives, we believe in a great many small secular millenniums; one of them is success. Romance is a kind of millennium too, and we cling to it with amazing fidelity, despite sexual freedom and divorce -- the triumph, as Dr. Johnson said about second marriages, of hope over experience...
...elections also inspire some millennial attitudes; despite our cynicism about our politicians, we can't quite resist the sneaking hope that the next occupant of the White House will set everything to rights. There is a similar feeling about our great secular crusades -- for civil rights, for the environment. We believe that these problems can be solved for good; and while we do achieve tremendous improvements, we keep being surprised if they are neither complete nor permanent...