Secularism

Someone asked me what I mean by secularism.  Well, a great place to start is this BBC News story.  In short, conservative Jews in Israel want to enforce their way of life on a US company's Israel factory.

I am absolutely for freedom of religion.  A secular state says that everyone has the right to follow whatever religion they wish, with two provisos: they may not harm anyone else, and they may not enforce, or seek to enforce, their rules of life on anyone else.

In this case it's easy.  Intel wants to operate its factory on Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath.  The workers can do what they like.  No-one forces anyone to work for Intel or anyone else.  Intel sometimes requires work on Saturdays.  Okay, so if that's against your religion you have the freedom not to work for them.  But you do not have the freedom to insist that Intel does not work on the days you do not work.  Intel is not even Jewish (it's a company, how can it have a religion?  Religion is something people have). Even less is it ultra-orthodox.  So a secular state (which Israel claims to be) gives it the freedom not to follow the religion of a few Israelis, or even the majority of Israelis were that the case, and it gives its employees the same freedom.

In a secular state everyone has the right to follow their religion and no-one is compelled to comply with anyone else's.