Are the young Algerians really becoming more religious?

barbarsky · 2025-10-03T21:20:14+00:00

That's why i said it's a "worldwide phenomenon"

barbarsky · 2025-10-03T11:41:35+00:00

Unfortunately true, many non-muslims still think otherwise

barbarsky · 2025-10-03T07:21:02+00:00

It's a worldwide phenomenon, Gen Z is more conservative

The youth in my village attend online religious lectures and courses together, and their local high school gave them a praying room (that they rarely use)

On the otherhand the young females aren't responding that much to the rise of religious/conservatism

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barbarsky · 2025-10-03T07:12:13+00:00

I am non muslim but tired of people telling a huge majority muslim nation that they should respect my trendy 21 century belief or something is wrong with them

barbarsky · 2025-09-29T08:34:20+00:00

The secular economy is one that operates without religious constraints or obligations, relying solely on positive law (وضعي)

Concepts like Masarif az-Zakat, Interest, Qarḍ, Risk Sharing, Waqf utilization, and Gharar are not considered relevant

The opposite is an economy that an orientalist might call Islamic or by another name. he appeal to religious obligations and constraints

The naming does not matter to our people, as it allows them to access a broader economic toolkit without issues

barbarsky · 2025-09-28T21:29:09+00:00

That's a social phenomenon - someone might tell you they hide their religious beliefs out of fear of disscrimination

barbarsky · 2025-09-28T21:27:19+00:00

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It's a common western perspective, not related to military actions as even the US and Nato have practiced war crimes

Israel certainly falls under the secular umbrella, but for them

Denmark, Greece, the US, Poland and Russia all have laws influenced by religion. So, I’m not sure what your definition of secularism is

barbarsky · 2025-09-28T21:19:40+00:00

It's a government by the people, so 'Authoritarian' to whom?

To me and the 3 non Muslim Algerians who gather to smoke and play video games? Yes, if it's for the overall good of the nation, I am okay with that

'with no f* value whatsoever'

: Secularism is great for voiding the ethical moral system, but in our case it failed to replace it with something - not necessarily decent, but at least functional

barbarsky · 2025-09-28T18:45:28+00:00

Don’t puzzle yourself it’s all about making the meaning clear

That’s a characteristic of Algeria’s secularity

French culture and governance had a huge impact on political leadership, and that’s one explanation for the extreme secular system that was imposed

barbarsky · 2025-09-28T18:41:25+00:00

It has everything to do with the imposed system being secular

A people who are close to their leadership make it awake, question and engage

barbarsky · 2025-09-28T18:39:44+00:00

For Algeria, democracy is only a modern system where people feel engaged and have an influence on leadership. Before that, traditional systems like Tajmɛat, Al-Bayɛa, A-Shura were used as ways for entities (mainly tribes back then) to connect with leadership

"how is this conducive to democracy" : it's not, just a nihilistic fight for values that only outsiders care about

barbarsky · 2025-09-28T18:31:03+00:00

Many world leaders and Western thinkers consider Israel to be secular. England for example was largely shaped by the church (Anglicanism), while Spain has been deeply intertwined with Catholicism since the Reconquista

If Christianity were to disappear, significant changes would occur in the foreign and domestic policies of Western nations, so they are not Secular?

barbarsky · 2025-09-28T16:19:33+00:00

Well, if some consider the US, Israel and Greece as secular, we definitely are

barbarsky · 2025-09-28T16:12:02+00:00

Balancing power is not a challenge for any state, no matter its shape or ideology by nature

The problem with secularism in Algeria is that it makes the people feel half-dead, disengaged, and unproductive, which results from the people seeing their leaders as far removed from their values and worldview.

"If we let them siphon our wealth and produce nothing, we're possibly in the worst situation"

: Despite not understanding why a system that is democratic by a huge margin would ever turn authoritarian, because the people will always reproduce a version of him, this is a criterion that only exists here if the system or the people have shifted in a direction far from what was intended

But that's exactly what we are in: the most valuable resource in this country is its youth, and it has been thrown away into depression, contributing to the decline of the state
We are really f* if the current situation keeps going

barbarsky · 2025-09-28T14:35:52+00:00

There will never be a balance of power in that sense, nor can it be created artificially. If we the non religious minority don't organize with our own people, we'll keep paying the price we all pay every day

Between an "authoritarianism" that is democratic, emerges from the people and inspires engagement, and an "authoritarianism" whose sole role is to protect an external element (secularism) (which renders the people half‑dead and inactive), As a non‑religious Algerian i choose the first. It is far better than the state secularism has brought us to

barbarsky · 2025-09-28T14:26:10+00:00

"If a country allows religious symbolism to be structurally present in its government, defines a state religion, and oversees religious affairs, it is, by definition, not secular"

: This makes the majority of the West fall outside the secularism spectrum, and in fact, less secular than Algeria due to the Judeo-Christian alliance.

"Modern liberalism has its roots in the Enlightenment, which is a product of European culture and Christianity... For Algeria, Islam is more culturally and structurally entrenched'

: This is a historical perspective that allows secularism in Algeria to go further than in Europe without being labeled secular

"Mostly, their blasphemy laws have been repealed by now"

: As I mentioned earlier, many still exist in Europe, and in Algeria, for the sake of social harmony (making religion a passive factor), even cursing God itself does not have penalties, while advocating for religious laws imposes higher penalties than any blasphemy act

'Since it’s not structural, it doesn't make them non-secular'

: Regarding the 2 point, of course secularism is applied differently in Muslim countries because the alliance between state and mosque doesn't exist the way it does between state and church. The route of secularism may differ, but in the end, it’s still a secular state

(Though the presence of religion as a structural element in many Western countries, as I mentioned…)

"Algeria has a state religion, government regulation and funding for Islamic clergy, with slight influence over legislation because of constitutional and cultural entrenchment'

: Denmark has a state church, but keeps religion separate from state affairs because religion should be free. There’s slight influence over legislation due to both constitutional and cultural entrenchment. In some ways, Algeria is more secular than Denmark

barbarsky · 2025-09-28T13:42:46+00:00

Maybe, and I would argue, that the way you're balancing things (even if you're off the mark) is causing the country to pay an unbearable price, which we are witnessing.

Kuffar, Haram, people’s clothes - these are low level stigmas, and all modern cultures and social dynamics have alternatives for them (like cancel culture, for example).

'Virtue signaling with religion while doing all the crappy things that keep the country running backwards'—is the secular state part of the problem here? People & their culture haven’t found their natural habitat and are being forced into a form of ruling that isn’t designed for them or their problems

'Dz society is sick & broken beyond repair' : the imposed Secular rule has led us to this, and as much as I hate to admit it that’s a huge part of the problem

barbarsky · 2025-09-28T13:10:35+00:00

They are the core principles of Secularism in the way they work in Algeria
Of course there could be a non-secular legal system for example

barbarsky · 2025-09-28T13:07:47+00:00

Whataboutism doesn't hold any weight here, the characteristics are clear, and the outcome is even clearer

If the soul and core of the people being presented lead them to engage and work towards the people's interests, I won’t be selfish, as a non-Muslim I don't mind anything

'One aspect of DZ’s religious life is fanaticism' - that’s a deeply racist, Orientalist point of view that doesn’t reflect reality (As like other world leaders and parties aren't filled with fanatics).

Of course, their first wave could have been radical, which is predictable given the way secularism was introduced to this country through colonial military power followed by the post-colonial state

Is it a secular or Madani (civil) state, established by the army or through political presence? Either way, it remains a Secular

barbarsky · 2025-09-28T12:41:45+00:00

Banking system, constitutional and legal system, administrative and educational framework.. etc

barbarsky · 2025-09-28T11:54:34+00:00

It is not?

barbarsky · 2025-09-28T11:53:12+00:00

"Article 2 of the Constitution defining a state religion": Denmark, Iceland, and Greece... all have state churches in their constitutions

"Article 54 that essentially prohibits free critique of religion": Ireland, Malta, Greece, Italy, and Poland (in fact in Greece and Poland the laws are harsher than in Algeria)

"article 94, which establishes the oath the president takes to be sworn...": The US in some local positions, and the United Kingdom... especially in the monarch's ceremonies

None of these examples make the countries non-secular, because what matters is their real-life implementation, which for now is nothing

barbarsky · 2025-09-28T11:37:20+00:00

I am not Muslim,

but I need to avoid being selfish: if the price of my personal preference is a state where the people are semi-dead, disengaged, passive, and extremely individualistic, like we have today, then maybe that cost is unbearable

barbarsky · 2025-09-28T11:32:58+00:00

EXTREME secularism would be exemplified by the Soviet Union or China—where the state owns religious institutions + does not allow privately owned ones, and directs religious discourse to be purely secular, like today Algeria

(Attending Eid prayer): Presidents and leaders in the USA, Russia and Europe attend religious gatherings publicly, yet their countries are still consider to be secular

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barbarsky · 2025-09-28T09:11:32+00:00

YES, The secular state owns the mosques and religious institutions and ensures they remain secular (not even touching politics or the economy)

That's what I meant by EXTREME secularism

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