ABSTRACT
US Secretary of State, John Kerry, wrote in 2015 that ‘if I headed back to college today, I would major in comparative religions rather than political science. That is because religious actors and institutions are playing an influential role in every region of the world’ (Kerry 2015). He referred to religion having an influence on politics, diplomacy, violence and peace-building, among others. Indeed, such topics are common among scholars in disciplines and subject areas such as religious studies, International Relations, politics, history and sociology. However, only some of the approaches consider the role of language. This chapter explores how the modern distinction between religion and the secular has become a debated and contested discursive tool in the political organisation of contemporary societies. Although the terms are old, the distinction itself – locating the ‘secular’ as the ‘non-religious’ sphere of public politics, as distinct from the private, non-political sphere of ‘religion’ – has a specific modern history. This discourse is in operation in scholarly works as well as in public debates (media, politics).
