The secular argument that Morsi s lust for power jeopardized Egypt s nascent democracy does not bear scrutiny.

Sometimes likened to a secular Pope, the UN Secretary General can wield the soft power of persuasion but little hard economic or military power.

Popular movements have brought a range of avowedly Islamist political parties to power, replacing the largely secular former regimes.

The secular opposition s accession to power on the back of a tank might feed the Islamists rage for years to come.

Enforcing a secular constitution before elections does not guarantee a secular outcome.

This unusually assertive stance reflects rising frustration among Christians, as well as the secular and liberal opposition, with the Muslim Brotherhood s power monopoly.

A revolution in any of these countries might easily bring Islamists to power, but this would have little to do with Tunisia s secular uprising.

Secular Stagnation for Free

Turkey s Secular Fundamentalist Threat

The power struggle between the Islamist Hamas and Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and his secular nationalist Fatah movement is intensifying, with tensions breaking into outright combat.

The women s movement in Morocco which now bridges secular and religious communities is setting an example of the power of social thought in a traditional society.

We also know their leaders long term goals seize power in Muslim countries and attack the Western states that support secular regimes in the Islamic world.

In 2009 a new body was formed, the Australian Secular Lobby , to promote secular education in Australia.

Many believe that Congress with its commitment to secular values, economic growth, and helping the poor now has a mandate to transform India into a great power.

The Problem With Secular Stagnation

The first is secular dictatorship.

If the First Lady wears a headscarf, maintained the secular minded elite, the whole secular system could be undermined.

Secular, military, and Mubarak era foes of the Muslim Brotherhood have used every lever at their disposal, democratic or not, to block the Islamist parties democratic exercise of power.

The BNP appears to view religious extremism as a tool to break the power of the opposition Awami League, which is largely supported by the secular and urban middle classes.

The Madonna like status of Cory Aquino in the Philippines was inspiring in the heady days of People Power, but did little to bolster the institutions of a secular democracy.

Moreover, some secular intellectuals demonized the Brotherhood.

This election is taking place because when the AKP party, the conservative party now in power, designated Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul as its candidate for president, the country s secular elite cringed.

These parties have shifted the regional balance of power away from secular governments, and Putin blames the United States for empowering them through its attempts to impose democracy on the region.

In other countries for example India and Sri Lanka the constitutions may have remained secular in nature but in practice colonial elites took over State apparatuses and entrenched their own power.

It's a victory for secular democracy in India.

But, with the decline of secular nationalism and Islamism s rise, the hidden electoral power of the Muslim Brotherhood poses a mortal threat to the regime and its strategic alliance with the West.

Drawing Kazakhstan westward would help embed this secular tradition.

But longer term secular factors also play a role.

Why has religion returned to secular and democratic politics?

They ensure that India remains secular, democratic and pluralistic.

Secular explanation A third explanation promoted by religious Jews is that the overwhelmingly secular leadership in Israel sought to undermine the influence of religious elements in Israeli politics and society by allowing more secular Jews and their non Jewish spouses to immigrate.

On cue, the hashtag شريعة_العلمانية (Secular Law) soon came up, and was populated with suggestions on what this new sharia (law) for secular people should be.

Palestinian politics is approaching the point of no return. The power struggle between the Islamist Hamas and Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and his secular nationalist Fatah movement is intensifying, with tensions breaking into outright combat.

If so, the referendum s outcome should convince Erdoğan that the balance of power in the country has changed for good, and that the days of strong arm tactics by the secular establishment are gone forever.

Most of us live in a secular, liberal, disenchanted world.

Swedes are overwhelmingly secular and indifferent toward the Swedish church.

Suddenly, however, this secular commitment is no longer so clear.

Another comment reads Ennahda's (Secular American) agenda is now revealed.

Egyptians are drafting their very own secular law on Twitter.

Sandmonkey Because Islamists view secular people as being unIslamic, and see that non Muslims are controlling their religious rituals, who wants to write with me a secular law?

And these are just some of his opinions on secular matters.

As with a secular dictatorship, Islamic dictatorship is ugly and destructive.

Nor does the old secular religious divide have much salience anymore.

Turkey, however, scores 24, worse even than Tunisia s authoritarian secular regime.

He has broken the power of the military old guard and the hold of its stale Kemalist ideology the secular nationalism introduced by Turkey s first president, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk thereby permanently altering the makeup of Turkish politics.