Pseudo-secularism

Pseudo-secularism is, in a societal setting, the state of implicit non-secular trends in the face of pledged secularism. This is usually an allegation by groups who perceive a double-standard exhibited within the established secular governing policy towards culturally different groups among the governed.

An example is the state in India where law as to the number of wives a person may have differs for Muslims and Hindus, which is a consideration adopted by the government to accommodate for the cultural differences. Followers of the Hindutva philosophy contend that this makes India a pseudo-secular rather than a true secular state, since it discriminates unfairly against Hindus.

In Germany the state collects taxes for two Christian groups, while other religious or atheist groups have to collect their membership fees without the help of the state. Furthermore, there are religion lessons at school given by the state, but only for those two Christian religions. Critics want the German state to stop supporting religious groups in this way.

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