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Professor Andrew Gow
Date: February 2016
Location: David Turpin Building 
Talk: Secularism: A 'work in progress' or an ideological obfuscation?"

Western societies have retained deep roots and connections to Christian ways of thinking (e.g., about morality, sexuality, and work) and ways of living -- while simultaneously claiming that they are now secular and have thrown off the Christian past. Non-Christians are simultaneously expected to arrange their lives in accordance with these ways of thinking and living, and given the message that they are neutral – not open to negotiation, objection or resistance. This results in the seemingly never-ending struggles over religious expression in the West. Secularism therefore is not a work in progress, but a false claim of neutrality to mask a hardening ideology.