Religious Rivalries, Hegemony of Liberalism, and Institutionalization of Secularism: The Case Study of the United States (1776-1980)

The US model of secularism policies include disestablishment of religion and guaranteeing religious freedom through adding related articles in the constitution and the first amendment, the lack of religious education in public schools, the freedom of religious private education, the lack of funding for religious private schools, the neutrality of the state towards the followers of different religions, and non-opposition to the presence and expression of religious symbols in the public domain. The realization of some of these policies has been the result of a historical process. The current study not only examines the rise and fall in US secularism from 1776 to 1980, but also addresses the impact of plurality and religious rivalry, rational calculations and liberal tendencies of US political leaders on constructing strengthening the secularism. The Protestant Semi-establishment through the Second Great Awakening and its hegemony in the public sphere were among serious challenges to the process of consolidating the US secularism in the nineteenth century. But with the increase in the population of Catholic and Jewish minorities, religious rivalries among them and the activities of secular organizations and movements, the increasing political and institutional influence of Evangelical Protestants and religious conservatives diminished, and the way forward was to expand the process of secularization in the twentieth century.