Word: seculare
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...sense the whole episode was a tempest in a cappuccino cup stirred by an example taken out of context. But the fuss reflected secular fears that the Pope might be returning to a view once held by many Catholic theologians that sexual pleasure even in marriage is deeply suspect. That is far from the case. In sermons and writings John Paul has dealt extensively with marriage, and often places a remarkably unpontifical emphasis on matters of the flesh. The book of Genesis, the Pontiff once declared, shows "the pure value of the body...
That view was changed by three causes. Such trends as the legalization of abortion, the spread of pornography and agitation for homosexual rights convinced many evangelicals that, in Falwell's words, "a minority of secular humanists and amoralists are running this country and taking it straight to hell." Carter's "failings," in their eyes, deepened their despair. The last straw for many evangelicals was a 1978 attempt by the Internal Revenue Service to take away the tax-exempt status of private schools suspected of practicing racial discrimination...
When Evren and the other four members of the ruling National Security Council took the oath of office, they chose not to swear on the Koran or any other holy book. Instead, to underscore the secular nature of the Turkish state, they swore on their honor and invoked the name of Kemal Atatürk, the founder of modern Turkey...
...combatting the terrorists and by the rising menace of Turkish Communist militants. They were also concerned about increasing signs of Islamic fanaticism; a rally in Konya earlier this month that attracted 70,000 people struck them as a threat to Atatürk's concept of a secular society, which the Turkish military is pledged under the existing constitution to uphold. The generals reportedly gave the politicians a final warning on Aug. 29 in an effort to get them to accept Prime Minister Demirel's plan for early elections as a way out of the parliamentary deadlock. When...
...gimmick but the revival of an ancient tradition. Clowns often had an important role in medieval church services: they played the part of "holy interrupters," popping up to illustrate a theological point through mime, magic or even mockery. Gradually, however, they began to satirize the church and secular society. "This did not make clowns very popular," Shaffer notes. They fell out of favor with the church and eventually were declared satanic. Thereafter clowns kept to the secular world of the circus-at least until their current revival...