Understanding Secularism - Worksheets

CBSE Worksheet 01
Ch-20 Understanding Secularism
  1. Majority of the population of Israel is
    1. Christian
    2. Muslim
    3. Jewish
    4. No majority religion in Israel
  2. Untouchability is an ancient practice of
    1. Hinduism
    2. None of these
    3. Christianity
    4. Islam
  3. The most important aspect of secularism is its ………….
    1. separation of one community from another
    2. mixing of religion with State power
    3. separation of politics from religion
    4. separation of religion from State power
  4. Match the following:
    (i) India(a) Right constitution
    (ii) Hitler(b) Skullcap
    (iii) USA(c) Secular state
    (iv) Jews(d) Germany
  5. Fill in the blanks:
    1. ________ is a country which gives fundamental rights to the citizen to practice their individual religion.
    2. ________ means peace and cooperation between individuals.
    3. _______ cannot declare any religion an official religion.
    4. Indian secularism works to prevent ______ and ___________ .
  6. State true or false:
    1. Private schools cannot promote any one religion through their morning prayers or religious celebrations.
    2. In Indian Secularism, the State is not strictly separate from religion.
    3. The Indian Constitution does not allow religious communities to set- up their own schools and colleges.
    4. The police stations in India are supposed to display and profess the religion of the police superintendent.
  7. In Indian secularism the State is strictly separate from religion.(True/False)
  8. What examples does history provide us on the grounds of religion?
  9. What do you mean by freedom to interpret’?
  10. The Indian Constitution does not grant religious communities to set up their own schools and colleges. -(True/False)
  11. Mention the two reasons why the separation between religion and state is important.
  12. Explain with an example that in Indian secularism the State can intervene in religious affairs.
  13. Describe the various ways to prevent religions domination by the Indian constitution.
CBSE Worksheet 01
Ch-20 Understanding Secularism
Answer
    1. Jewish, Explanation: The majority of the population of Israel is Jewish.
    1. Hinduism, Explanation: Untouchability is an ancient practice of Hinduism. Untouchability originated because of the deliberate policy of the upper-caste Brahmanas.
    1. separation of religion from State power, Explanation: The most important aspect of secularism is its separation of religion from State power. This is important for a country to function democratically.
    1. India - (c) Secular state
    2. Hitler - (d) Germany
    3. USA - (a) Rigid constitution
    4. Jews - (b) Skullcap
    1. India is a country which gives fundamental rights to the citizen to practice their individual religion.
    2. Harmony means peace and cooperation between individuals.
    3. The legislature cannot declare any religion an official religion.
    4. Indian secularism works to prevent religious domination and discrimination.
    1. False
    2. True
    3. False
    4. False
  7. True
  8. History provides us with several examples of discrimination, exclusion and persecution on the grounds of religion.
  9. ‘Freedom to interpret’ means an individual’s liberty to develop his own understanding and meaning of the religion that one practises.
  10. False: The Indian Constitution grants the right to religious communities to set up their own schools and colleges. It also gives them financial aid on a non- preferential basis.
  11. The two reasons why the separation between religion and state is important are as:
    1. To prevent the domination of one religion over another religion.
    2. To protect the freedom of individuals to come out of their religion and freedom to interpret religious teachings differently.
  12. An important aspect of India secularism is that the State can intervene in religious affairs. We can prove this fact with an example of untouchability. It was a practice in which the members pf the same religion, i.e. upper caste Hindus, dominated other members, i.e. lower caste people, within it. In order to prevent this religion-based exclusion and discrimination of lower castes, the Indian Constitution banned untouchability. In this instance, the State intervened in religion in order to end a social practice that it believed discriminated and excluded and that violated the Fundamental Rights of Lower castes.
  13. The various ways to prevent religious domination by the Indian constitution are:
    1. It uses a strategy of distancing itself from religion. The Indian state is not ruled by a religious group, nor does it support any one religion.
    2. Indian secularism works to prevent the domination of religion through a strategy of non-interference. This means that in order to respect the sentiments of all religions and not interfere with religious practices the State makes certain exceptions for particular religious communities.
    3. The third way in which Indian secularism works to prevent the domination of religion is through a strategy of intervention for example; ‘Untouchability’. In this case, the members of the same religion, i.e., upper-caste Hindus dominate the lower caste within it. In order to prevent this religion based on exclusion and discrimination of lower castes, the Indian constitution bans untouchability.