Machiavelli's secularism

Every thinker is the child of his time, this statement suits most in the case of Machiavelli. Lasky called Machiavelli the child of a renaissance. During this time church was the most corrupt institution and also Italy was the seat of the Roman church. Machiavelli is the realist. He is considered the father of western secularism. He was the first person who could dare to suggest that politics and ethics are two different domains. He was the first person to establish the autonomy of politics from ethics or religion. He defines politics as statecraft which is the management of power. He considers religion as a matter of personal domain.

Machiavelli was neither immoral nor anti-religious. He considers that political actions cannot be guided from the yardstick of religion. The yardstick of politics is national interest. He was against the interference of the church in politics and not the use of religion by a prince.