anticlerical
Against religious authority
Anticlerical describes opposition to the influence of clergy or religious institutions in public affairs, especially politics and education.
The position emerged strongly in 18th- and 19th-century Europe, where anticlerical movements sought to limit church power over secular matters: anticlerical legislation, anticlerical sentiment.
The term can describe policies, movements, or individuals.
Rejection of deities
- agnosticismDoubt about divine existence
- freethoughtReason-based belief formation
- humanismPhilosophy prioritizing earthly reason
- rationalismReason as knowledge source
materialism · skepticism · naturalism · empiricism · positivism · secularism · enlightenment · Voltaire
Withdrawal of official status
- freethoughtReason-based belief formation
- irreligionAbsence of faith
- iconoclasmAttacking revered traditions
- secularizationReligion losing social significance
dechristianization · defrock · excommunication · dissent · protest · resistance · rebellion · defiance
Religious movement splitting Christianity
- EnlightenmentEra prioritizing reason over dogma
- JacobinsFrench revolutionary faction
- InquisitionChurch tribunal against heretics
- titheTenth for clergy
indulgence · simony · excommunication · monastery · confiscation · expulsion · dissolution · suppression
Withdrawal of official status
- secularizationReligion losing social significance
- republicanismGovernment by elected officials
- radicalismPursuit of sweeping change
- leftismPolitics favoring redistribution, equality
anarchism · socialism · liberalism · reformism · progressivism · nationalism · statism · separation
atheism
Rejection of deities
- agnosticismDoubt about divine existence
- freethoughtReason-based belief formation
- humanismPhilosophy prioritizing earthly reason
rationalism · materialism · skepticism · naturalism · empiricism · positivism · secularism · enlightenment · Voltaire · deism
disestablishment
Withdrawal of official status
- freethoughtReason-based belief formation
- irreligionAbsence of faith
- iconoclasmAttacking revered traditions
secularization · dechristianization · defrock · excommunication · dissent · protest · resistance · rebellion · defiance · subversion
Reformation
Religious movement splitting Christianity
- EnlightenmentEra prioritizing reason over dogma
- JacobinsFrench revolutionary faction
- InquisitionChurch tribunal against heretics
tithe · indulgence · simony · excommunication · monastery · confiscation · expulsion · dissolution · suppression · concordat
disestablishment
Withdrawal of official status
- secularizationReligion losing social significance
- republicanismGovernment by elected officials
- radicalismPursuit of sweeping change
leftism · anarchism · socialism · liberalism · reformism · progressivism · nationalism · statism · separation · constitution
- Deismfirst cause, clockwork universe, non-intervention, Thomas Paine, Voltaire
- RationalismDescartes, cogito ergo sum, a priori, Spinoza, clear ideas
anticlericalclerical
Of office duties
theocratic · papist · ecclesiastical · clerics · priesthood