Word: secularism
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Wills directs his argument at secular intellectuals who have focused on the decline of Establishment theologies and overlooked the rise of Fundamentalist Christian sects. Knowing the nonbeliever's weakness for social-science data, he begins by preaching the gospel according to George Gallup. Nine Americans in 10 say they have never doubted the existence of God. Eight in 10 fear they will have to answer for their sins. Life after death is a reality for 7 out of 10. More important, Wills notes, Americans vote their religiosity. All candidates must invoke the Deity or face rejection on Election...
Even Wills' detours into history, biography, political science and theology cannot obfuscate the obvious. Americans are embracing evangelical religions because they feel spiritually and morally adrift in a society that judges values on a slippery curve of relativity. Secular intellectuals are also edgy, although they are likely to call the sensation angst and seek the blessings of a psychotherapist...
...month-old government of Prime Minister V.P. Singh, who offered to resign for the second time in three months. It was the most serious challenge yet to Singh, who is struggling to hold his party together, even as the rise of Hindu nationalism threatens to undermine the secular foundations of the world's most populous democracy. Said S.R. Bommai, president of the Prime Minister's Janata Dal party: "The country is at a crossroads. We have to choose between secularism and religious fundamentalism, between democracy and mobocracy, between unity and disintegration...
...elections could be called within a few months. The Prime Minister can point to accomplishments in foreign policy, including a peace settlement with Nepal, and such populist but expensive programs as debt relief to farmers and job guarantees for the poor. He can also emphasize his support for "secular" values opposed to what he calls the B.J.P.'s efforts to "lay the foundation stone of a theocratic state...
Williams said that the percentage of Black elected officials who were ministers dropped by half between 1982 and 1986. She concluded that Black leadership is becoming much more secular...