Rethinking secularism

"Secularism is often treated as a sort of absence. It’s what is left if religion fades. It’s the exclusion of religion from the public sphere but somehow in itself neutral. This is misleading. We need is to see secularism as a presence. It is something, and therefore in need of elaboration and understanding. It shapes not only religion but also culture more broadly. Whether we see it as an ideology, as a worldview, as a stance toward religion, as a constitutional approach, or as simply an aspect of some other project--of science, or a philosophical system--secularism is something we need to think through, rather than merely the absence of religion." - Introductory paragraph.