Were there ever any secular civilizations?

Were there ever any secular civilizations?

[edit on 12-3-2006 by ConversationConservation]

Secularism,as it is known today,is at least as far as historisicty is concerned a rather new fad. Modern day secularism or materialism really got a boost from Rene Descartes. Basically, Descartes' whole philosophy stemmed around a belief that man needed to build machines rather than be concerned with the unknowable. Descartes essentially stated we are either machines or parts thereof.

I'm not even going to get into all of the detrimental aspects of Cartesian philosophy,but to answer your question.....giving the fact that secularism is rather new to belief systems in the world....it's probably going to be hard to find an ancient culture that was secular by today's standards

I am familiar with Descartes'and his philosophical merit (or in your view, lack thereof) and I disagree with your view of him, but this thread isn't about the effects of Descartes on society(and obviously we both know that). Thankyou for the input though.