Religion and Politics

RELIGION AND POLITICS

MODERNIZATION AND SECULARIZATION

– PERSPECTIVES OVER TIME• 1960s:

“Once, the world was filled with the sacred – in thought, practice, and institutional form. After the Reformation and the Renaissance, forces of modernizations swept across the globe, and secularization, a corollary process, loosened the dominance of the sacred. In due course, the sacred will disappear altogether, except, possibly, in the private realm.” (C. Wright Mills)

• 2000s: “The world today, with some exceptions, is as

furiously religious as it ever was, and in some places even more so than ever. This means that a whole body of literature by historians and social scientists loosely labeled “modernization” is mistaken.” (Peter L. Berger)

What is secularization about? Protecting the state from religion?

orProtect religion from the state?

CHRISTIANITY’S SOUTHERN SHIFT*

•Sub-Saharan Africa: the Christian share of the population has soared from 9% a century ago to 63%.

•24% of the world’s Christians live there.

•Nigeria has more Protestants than Germany: 80 mln. people

•Europe: the Christian share has dropped from 95% to 76%.

•The Americas: decline from 96% to 86%.

•*Pew Research, Dec. 2011 - http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/story/2011-12-20/christianity-growth-africa-europe/52125920/1

TRENDS IN THE WEST

•Church attendance has fallen

•Clergy has lost its authority over the public in such matters as birth control, divorce, sexual orientation, and necessity of marriage before childbirth

•Growing religious diversity and politicization of religious differences

•In America: rising power of Christian fundamentalists

TRENDS IN THE POST-COMMUNIST EAST

•End of persecution of religion

•Post-atheistic religious revival in most countries, especially among Orthodox Christians and Muslims

•The church increases its influence on state and society

•Religion acquires a growing role in underpinning conservative forces in societies

TRENDS IN THE GLOBAL SOUTH

•The rise of political Islam

•The growth of Christian churches, especially in Africa

•Rising Christian-Muslim tensions and conflicts

Nationality and faith: competing identities

MODELS OF CHURCH-STATE RELATIONS1. Religious and state institutions are closely bound

together2. Religion is separate from the state and

persecuted by it3. Religion and the state are constitutionally

separate, faith is a private matter, no religious discrimination

THE STATE AND RELIGION

•The state is defined by its monopoly on the use of force

•And by its legitimacy

•For legitimation of power, most states in history have needed religion

•The state’s need to justify itself in the minds of the ruled

•The church (mosque, ashram, synagogue) plays a mediating role between the rulers and the ruled:

It helps rulers maintain a social order And, as a major institution of civil society, it helps the

people adapt to a social order – or change it

•Interactions, contradictions and balances between these two functions are at the core of the problematic of church-state relations

• With rare exceptions, the rulers need religion

• But they often keep a wary eye on religious activities

• Because the church can never be fully controlled

• What are the loyalties of the church? To God To the ruler To the state, irrespective of the ruler To the nation

• Can these loyalties be broken? Criticizing the ruler Questioning some laws Criticizing society

To what extent and in what ways can the Church influence the exercise of state power?

The church may help protect society from the state’s aggressions

It may help maintain a moral order It may speak out against injustice in society It may foster national unity in the face of threats to the

nation

•Or, It may stand in the way of social and political change Advocate discrimination and oppression Foster social discord Rationalize tyranny, aggression and militarism

• Whether organized religion sides with the state against society or reinforces society vis-a-vis the state

• Whether the church helps society to solve its problems or hinders the search for solutions - Depends on many different factors:

Political, economic, cultural

• In an age of democratic proliferation, the roles of organized religion are determined less and less by its power structures, and more and more by the laity – common people (believers)