Word: seculare
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...more conventional kind, might call them a "Born Again" or fundamentalist group. They have been "born again" because most of them feel they have been spiritually renewed by accepting Christ into their hearts. Their fundamentalism comes with a highly literal reading of the Bible, an unusual belief in a secular, scientific community such as Harvard. These Christians, who tend to group around the Harvard-Radcliffe Christian Fellowship (HRCF), often say they would use the term "born again," a phrase found in the Book of John, if it hadn't been distorted in recent years by misuse...
...Peretz and the Flowering of Secular Jewish Culture"--Phillips Brooks Parlor...
...same time that he scores the Israeli government, however, Shahak has some strong criticism to level at the Palestinians. He is especially critical of the PLO's use of the slogan "democratic secular state," for Shahak claims the Palestinians have never defined or explained the concept in print to his satisfaction...
Shahak says he is "an Israeli Jew working in his community, and my political duty is to try to make my community understand the Palestinian demands. I am continually faced by the question of what Palestinians mean by the word 'secular'--since it has not been explained. If not followed by clarification, the word 'secular' in the world-famous slogan not only does not evoke understanding inside this community--it evokes contempt...
Shahak views the upswing in "religious fanaticism," among both Muslims in the Arab nations and the Jews in Israel, with dismay. He is skeptical of just what "secularism" is taken to mean. He recalls a PLO custom in pre-civil-war Labanon. When a Palestinian fighter died in combat, his funeral procession would be led by a Muslim mufti [religious leader] and a Christian priest walking hand in hand. "This doesn't mean secularity," Shahak concludes with a laugh. "'Secular' means, for people like me, putting the clergy in their place...