Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on secular, naturalistic considerations. Secularism is most commonly defined as the separation of religion from civil affairs and the state, and may be broadened to a similar position seeking to remove or to minimize the role of religion in any public sphere. The term "secularism" has a broad range of meanings, and in the most schematic, may encapsulate any stance that promotes the secular in any given context. It may connote anti-clericalism, atheism, naturalism, non-sectarianism, neutrality on topics of religion, or the complete removal of religious symbols from public institutions. As a philosophy, secularism seeks to interpret life based on principles derived solely from the material world, without recourse to religion. It shifts the focus from religion towards "temporal" and material concerns. There are distinct traditions of secularism in the West, like the French, Turkish and Anglo-American models, and beyond, as in India, where the emphasis is more on equality before law and state neutrality rather than blanket separation. The purposes and arguments in support of secularism vary widely, ranging from assertions that it is a crucial element of modernization, or that religion and traditional values are backward and divisive, to the claim that it is the only guarantor of free religious exercise. Variations Secularism takes different forms with varying stances on where and how religion should be separate from other aspects of society. People of any religious denomination can support a secular society, but the adoption of secularism as an identity is typically associated with non-religious individuals, including atheists. Political secularism encompasses the schools of thought in secularism that consider the regulation of religion by a secular state. Religious minorities and non-religious citizens in a country tend to support political secularism while members of the majority religion tend to oppose it. Secular nationalists are people that support political secularism within their own state. Scholars identify at least four variations of political secularism in society. The fundamentalist form is antagonistic against religion and openly opposes it. The humanistic form is indifferent towards religion and political states "adhering to the principles of materialism, naturalism, humanism" follow this approach. The liberal form is regarded to be more sympathetic towards religious sentiments in general but neither opposed nor biased towards any particular one. Some scholars also regard pseudo-secularism, though the term is used in a pejorative sense, as a variant form of