Word: secularizing
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...Secular humanism (a respectable term even though it became a right-wing swearword) stubbornly insisted that morality need not be based on the supernatural. But it gradually became clear that ethics without the sanction of some higher authority simply were not compelling...
...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...
...only issue is whether Harvard money will be spent for something whose use is restricted on sectarian grounds. I oppose such an expenditure because it violates secular principles, which in my opinion are part of the foundation of a democratic society...
Being the host of the Tonight show is not a job but a secular anointment. He is not just a walking, talking soporific for millions of Americans who watch him from between their feet, but a kind of nightly tour guide to the culture, a familiar stop on the highway of dreams, one of the few still points in the spinning landscape of American life...
...grounded in Muslim theology. By affirming his devotion to Islam, the monarch hopes to enlist the support of clerics and scholars. Without their backing, Fahd risks losing control of the ideological battleground between progressive middle-class Saudis and conservative religious extremists, who have launched a campaign denouncing secular influences. In recent months fundamentalists have increased their harassment of women who dress "immodestly" and have intruded into homes where people are suspected of drinking alcohol. Fahd's decree bans such actions...