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“Sectarian” and “secular” are not complete opposites, as secular people can also be sectarian. Sectarianism can refer to religious or non-religious beliefs and can cause discrimination and violence. The terms can become interrelated when religious tension is high, and some religious leaders blame secular misunderstanding for sectarian violence.
It would not be correct to regard the terms sectarian and secular as complete opposites. In some cases they can be opposite to each other. However, secular people can also be sectarian under certain circumstances. So these words are semi-related and can represent opposition or unity.
Sectarian tends to be defined as a particular, often religious, sect. For example, sectarian tensions between Catholics and Protestants in Ireland resulted in numerous years of not only ill feelings, but also violence. Sectarianism includes the idea that the particular sect one belongs to is the right and proper one, and that others belonging to other sects, even if they are still of the same parent religious group, are dead wrong. Although Protestantism and Catholicism are both Christian, when people believe that one sect is better than the other, or that one sect is more just than the other, sectarianism can take over and cause discrimination and violence.
Sectarian does not necessarily refer to sects of a religion (Sunni, Shia or Protestant, Catholic). It can also refer to sectors within a society or to those who ascribe to non-religious beliefs. For example, groups of atheists might be called a cult, or a caste in India might be called a cult. This is when the terms sectarian and secular can become interrelated. Secular is defined as non-religious, not belonging to a church, or secular status within a religion. It is not religious, and you can use the terms sectarian and secular together to suggest a non-religious group or sector. A secular sectarian could be someone who does not ascribe to a particular religion and belongs to a sect of people who share these beliefs.
Also, when religious tension between two groups is particularly high, sectarian and secular may correlate to indicate that religious leaders of both groups do not condone the actions of secularists within a sect. A religious leader might denounce violence between two groups as secular sectarianism. This has certainly been the case for many religious leaders in Islam from Sunni and Shia sects.
Although there are some religious leaders who condone and encourage violence between the two sects of Islam, other leaders, the Imams, argue against the continued sectarian violence and blame this behavior on “secular” or secular misunderstanding of the Quran. They relate the terms sectarian and secular by suggesting that those who have not studied and have not become religious leaders are secular sectarians who have no right to speak out for religion in general.
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