dechristianize

The government's campaign sought to dechristianize the public holidays.

Definition

1. Verb:
   • To remove Christian influence or character: "dechristianize" means to strip something of its Christian elements, beliefs, practices, or institutions. It is often used in historical or political contexts where a society, organization, or culture is deliberately made less Christian.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • The revolutionary government sought to dechristianize the education system by removing religious instruction from schools. (To eliminate Christian teachings from the curriculum.)
  • During the French Revolution, efforts were made to dechristianize public life, including the replacement of religious holidays with secular celebrations. (To remove Christian practices from civic society.)

Advanced Usage

• "to dechristianize a nation": to systematically reduce or eliminate the Christian faith and its public expression within a country.

  • The regime attempted to dechristianize the entire nation by closing churches and banning religious symbols. (The government tried to suppress Christianity on a national scale.)

• "to dechristianize a tradition": to modify a custom or practice so that it no longer has Christian associations.

  • Some modern celebrations have been dechristianized to make them more inclusive for people of other faiths. (The Christian origins of the festivals have been removed.)

Variants and Related Words

• Dechristianization (n): the process or act of removing Christian influence.

  • The dechristianization of the calendar was part of the secularization movement. (The process of removing Christian references from the calendar.)

• Dechristianized (adj): having been stripped of Christian character.

  • The dechristianized version of the ceremony omitted all biblical references. (The ceremony no longer contained Christian elements.)

• Christianize (v): the opposite action — to make something Christian.

  • Missionaries worked to Christianize the indigenous population. (To convert people to Christianity.)

Synonyms

• Secularize: to remove religious (especially Christian) influence from something.

  • The government moved to secularize the legal system. (To make it non-religious.)

• Deconsecrate: to remove the sacred status of a place or object, often associated with Christianity.

  • The old church was deconsecrated and turned into a museum. (Its Christian sanctity was removed.)

Related Idioms

• To take the Christ out of Christmas: a colloquial expression meaning to remove Christian elements from the Christmas holiday.

  • Many feel that commercialism has taken the Christ out of Christmas. (The religious meaning has been lost.)

• To secularize the sacred: to strip religious meaning from something that was once holy.

  • The museum's display secularized the sacred icons, treating them as art rather than objects of worship. (Removed their Christian religious significance.)