Faithfully secular: secularism and South African political life

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Periodical article

Title:	Faithfully secular: secularism and South African political life
Author:	Leatt, Annie
Year:	2007
Periodical:	Journal for the Study of Religion
Volume:	20
Issue:	2
Pages:	29-44
Language:	English
Geographic term:	South Africa
Subjects:	Church and State political ideologies secularization
Abstract:	A significant change in South African governance since 1994 has been the move away from the Christian political ideology to an explicitly secular legal and political regime. To date, little attention has been given to the form of secularism emerging in South Africa. This article discusses two models of State secularism, the French and the American, arguing that the secularism of the South African State shows strong similarities to the American model, notably in terms of pluralism and the protection of religion from incursions of the State. However, some elements enshrined in the Constitution and the post-1994 ANC leadership more closely resemble the critical and anti-religious Statist perspective of the French model. In addition, areas of customary law and traditional authority continue to be included in postapartheid political life. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. [ASC Leiden abstract]