...God? It Must Be So Lonely: The Dilemma of Modern Secularism (original) (raw)
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Forces of Secularity in the Modern World
2018
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The Debate on Secularization and Religion. What Is Left?
There is a common view in the field of sociology, particularly, and social sciences, in general, that the world, as we know it, is a secular world and the role of religion in the public space is therefore minimal. This view has been challenged by a few sociologists of religion that pretended to see in the appearance of new religiosities and spiritualities, in the late 1970s and 1980s, a reawakening of the reality of the sacred and belief, now bound for the personal sphere and aside from the institutional functioning of churches and main denominations. Some of them have even talked about the privatization of religion and the disenchantment of the world, exhibiting mixed feelings of revivalism and nostalgia. They consider the thesis of secularization elaborated by important figures of sociology, like Max Weber, Durkheim and Marx, historically rooted and discredited by recent events in America and Great Britain and by the evolution of former atheist societies such as Russia and Eastern Europe. Modern sociologists of religion that subscribe to the thesis of secularization of the world, like Bryan Wilson, Steve Bruce and Charles Taylor, reformulated their initial outline of the model. These changes have not convinced those who shield themselves in the essentiality of religion in human society. The debate has somehow become frozen, in the two camps, around previous arguments. This essay looks to portray the evolution of the secularization thesis, taking in consideration other contributions beyond those originated in the English-speaking world. The Secularization Paradigm It was common, during the 1970s, to state that the Western world was more and more secularized and that only a few people recognized themselves as religious and pious.
MAKING A CRITIQUE OF THE JUSTIFICATIONS OF SECULARISM
2017
Justifications of secularism rely on the arguments that the laws and the policies addressing to the generality of the public must be the product of consensus among the people that develop through public reason, practical wisdom, conclusions of science and such objective methods and results, and that the religion does not qualify like any of these because the religion is subjective, unverifiable and authoritarian. Such views are criticized in this article with the arguments that the modern democratic regimes don't oblige public consensus in the production of laws and policies, that it wasn't religion but rationalism and materialism that fed the most horrible human catastrophes of the last few centuries, that secularism suffers from an explicit Protestant bias, that religion has historically been a highly humanist and democratic institution, and that removal of religion from the public space violates the freedom of belief as a basic human right.
Introduction: Global Secularisms in a Post-Secular Age
Global Secularisms in a Post-Secular Age, 2015
Following the work of Bhargava, as well as Janet R. Jakobsen and Ann Pellegrini, in this volume, the editors take as a point of departure the fact that secularism is plural, that various secularisms have developed in various contexts and from various traditions around the world, and that secularism takes on different social and cultural meanings and political valences wherever it is expressed. At the same time, however, we acknowledge the hegemonic desiderata of secularism’s universalizing claims. That is, we see the importance of recognizing secularism as an Enlightenment legacy that exhibits universalizing ambitions. Thus, it is necessary to keep in mind both the doctrinal claims of secularism – its supposed difference from religion(s), its association with “progress” and modernity, its assertions of rationality and neutrality, its claims of exclusivity in connection with public life – as well as how this doctrinal logic unfolds in various contexts. Given this conception of secularism as both universalizing doctrine and particular instantiation, the essays in this volume provide numerous points of contact between theoretical/historical reflection and empirical case studies on secularisms in context. Recognizing that secular traditions have developed differently around the world and that this multiplicity must necessarily inform and complicate the conceptual theorization of secularism as a universal doctrine delivered wholesale from the Enlightenment, we have sought to gain clearer and more nuanced appreciations of the complexities of the concept of secularism from empirical case studies. Analyses of different regions, we believe, enrich our understanding of the meanings of secularism, providing comparative range to our notions of secularity, while adding dimension to our understanding of regional conditions and conflicts themselves. We maintain that theoretical and historical reflections over the meanings of secularism benefit from such empirical studies, serving to illustrate theories while also challenging traditional understandings that otherwise may remain unchallenged from within the more or less purely theoretical debates. At the same time, theoretical/historical treatments of secularism, we believe, help to inform our understanding of secularisms in context, enabling us to discern the principles at stake in the various regional expressions of secularity and/or religiosity globally. Theoretical and historical accounts help us to refine, contextualize, and revise our understandings of contemporary empirical findings.
God and secularization, 2024
This article examines the phenomenon of secularization and its interaction with human religiosity, while also analyzing the political, moral, and social dimensions of this process. Drawing on historical examples—from the French Revolution and the emergence of the “Age of Reason” to contemporary societies—it traces the gradual displacement of religion from the public sphere. At the same time, it demonstrates that the religious dimension never truly disappears; rather, it transforms, finding expression in new forms such as political religions. By exploring the ideas of Max Weber, Friedrich Nietzsche, Jürgen Moltmann, T. S. Eliot, Hak Joon Lee, Emilio Gentile, Charles R. Pinches, and Frits de Lange, the study shows that religious values remain central to shaping moral compasses, social order, and the content of political discourses. The author concludes that the complete removal of religion from public discourse may be excessive, as it disregards the inherently religious nature of humanity and the cultural roots underpinning contemporary norms. Consequently, the article suggests focusing on public theology as a means of harmoniously integrating religion into modern society, thereby reinforcing moral foundations and taking into account human nature in political decision-making.