After some consideration, discussions, and a lot of resistance, I have changed a part of the title of this blog.
I really like using the word "secular" when talking about non-religiously motivated homeschooling. "Secular" basically just means "of or relating to the worldly or temporal" (Websters Unabridged Dictionary). When talking about our homeschooling support group, I like to use "secular" simply to distinguish our group from the religiously based groups. Many members of our support group are deeply religious, but choose to homeschool for reasons other than their spiritual beliefs and choose to belong to a non-religious group.
When I first set up our website, one of my friends told me that I should use the word "inclusive" instead of secular because I would be alienating the families who are religious but don't want to base their homeschooling on a religious structure. I pretty much poo-pooed her concerns (sorry AG). Then, in a discussion with another friend on Friday, she mentioned that a lot of people won't even consider joining a "secular" homeschooling group because they interpret that word to mean "anti-religious." As much as I despise etymological relativism, I'm now bending to popular will.
I am going to try my best, from now on, to use the term "inclusive homeschooling" instead of "secular homeschooling."
This now leaves me in a conundrum, however -- what term do I use instead of the terms "Christian" or "religious" when denoting homeschoolers other than inclusive ones? Although I believe that inclusive homeschoolers and religiously motivated homeschoolers have more commonalities than differences, I do believe that there are a few fundamental, important differences (which is why I specifically denote that inclusive homeschooling is a revolutionary act). What would be a good short-hand term to use instead of "religiously motivated?" Or is that the best term available?
Discussion please.
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3 comments:
I'm actually in favor of "secular" as a good label. If some see it as anti-religious that is not the fault of the secularists.
As such, I imagine that is why you may be having trouble with terminology.
I don't have a good term at the ready, but I'm quite happy being ostracized as a secularist.
I think the term "religious homeschooler" conveys the meaning you are looking for just fine. Everyone, religious or secular, understands exactly what it means and agrees on its meaning.
"Secular homeschooler," OTOH, means different things to different people. Some take it to mean, as you indicated, one who homeschools for nonreligious reasons regardless of that person's faith. Others take it to mean (especially when used to describe a support group) "excluding religious homeschoolers." Some secular homeschoolers and many if not most religious homeschoolers will view it in the latter sense.
So, IMHO, "religious" and "secular" may refer to one's primary motivations for homeschooling, while support groups may be described as religious, secular, or inclusive of both.
And that's my contribution to the discussion. :-)
Cieux,
Websters defines "secularist" as someone who is anti-religious while "secular" has no negative connotations. I think that's interesting!
HSTR,
Thanks for your contribution. Maybe I can use the words "secular" and "religious" to convey my points.
Another friend suggested that the real distinction is "inclusive" and "exclusive." All good points and I'm still confused.
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