There are ways of being grateful that radically challenge a secular conception of the world, and there are ways which reinforce secularism.
I donβt mean βsecularβ in the culture-war sense or unbelief, but in Charles Taylorβs theory in A Secular Age, which involves living in what he calls the βimmanent frame,β a materialist conception of the universe. Many Christians have a functionally materialist conception of the universe.
A secular gratitude has a subject but no ultimate object. You can be grateful for but not grateful to anyone, except for benefits which have a clear human source. In other words, I can be grateful for my friends and I can be grateful to my friends for helping me move, but I canβt be grateful to anyone for giving me friends. Or for my friendsβ wellbeing.
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