Word: secularize
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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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...
...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...
...statement, which was entitled "Our Way Is Not Theirs," attacked "extremists in the [Israeli] public and within the government guided by secular and religious chauvinism [who] distort Zionism and threaten its realization. They advance the vicious cycle of extremism and violence which nurture each other." It also appeared to be critical of Begin's insistence on establishing Israeli settlements in the Arab West Bank, a policy that some American Jews believe is a serious obstacle to peace in the Middle East...
Progress made the American idea work; progress validated the dream-a kind of secular redemption, profligate with promises, the hot gospel of better days unfolding. Progress was the indispensable mechanism and metaphysic of the American idea: the pioneer progression westward over space corresponded with the steady upward incline of opportunity over time. "You can't stop progress," Americans would tell one another with an air of dazzled exuberance or a rueful sigh. The future was bearing down on the land like a grinning child at the wheel of something roaring, gaudily bright and faintly dangerous...
SEEKING DIVORCE. Anita Bryant, 40, singer and purveyor of orange juice, whose secular concert career has suffered in recent years because of her strident campaigns against gay rights; and Bob Green, former disc jockey and until now her manager; after 20 years of marriage, four children; in Miami Beach. Bryant claimed that Green had "violated my very conscience," by cooperating with "certain hired staff members" who she said were trading on her reputation for their personal gain...