Justice without religion? – How progress through secularism is slowly dividing society

Author
Timo Schmitz
hD student, Department of Philosophy, Trier University, Trier, Germany
10.30470/phm.2026.737255
Abstract
In the past, religion and state were intermingled in Western society; however, with the dawn of Enlightenment, the state was considered the only legitimate political actor with religion being dethroned. While this is often regarded to be a progress in humanity, the author wants to show that secularism leads to anti-religiosity and anti-religiosity to social division because the fundaments of a society are based on metaphysics. The common understanding of law and justice are shaped by faith-based understanding through and through. As such, the author argues that anti-religious secularism is a factor in fueling social rupture which is why faith-based actors remain important in “healing” the society.
Keywords
religion
secularism
social cohesion
identity