Political Religion and Its Global Dimension in Twentieth-Century China (original) (raw)

2 Political Religion in Twentieth-Century China and Its Global Dimension

Globalization and the Making of Religious Modernity in China, 2000

Guomindang, which preceded it) cannot be classified as a political religion because unlike Fascism and the Japanese right in the Shōwa period, it did not seek to overcome reason. This is to gloss over the undoubtedly irrational dimension of Communism (not only in its Chinese form) and would leave right-wing movements as the only political religions. 13 Voegelin (2008), pp. 64-69; for the moral and ascetic dimension see also Goossaert and Palmer (2011), p. 169.

Ingeborg G. Gabriel: Political Religion: Transformation of a Political Concept and Its Ethical Consequences, in: Christian Danz (Hg.), Jakob Helmut Deibl (Hg.), Transformation of Religion. Interdisciplinary Perspectives, 2023, 163-180.

ransformation of Religion Interdisciplinary Perspectives , 2023

The term "political religion" has acquired a range of rather varied meanings, the terminology changing according to historical circumstances. It originated in the interwar period as an expression for the new phenomenon of secularist totalitarianisms, lacking a transcendental perspective that gives meaning to the lives of citizens and a basis for political order (Eric Voegelin). The widespread usage of quasi-religious rituals and cults by secularist autocratic and totalitarian regimes for propaganda purposes turning them into "political religions" was analyzed by Hans Meier, who used the term as a heuristic tool. As a response to secularism many societies today see a revival of political movements driven by religious convictions. In the course of this geopolitical shift "political religions" has acquired yet another meaning. The ethical challenges this poses are outlined in the last part of the paper. What is at stake here is a reconciliation of the normative political inventions of modernity with religious traditions and moral codes as central condition for peaceful developments worldwide.

Chinese Religions on the Edge: Shifting Religion-State Dynamics

China Review-an Interdisciplinary Journal on Greater China, 2018

Not unlike in the modern Western world of Europe and the United States, the rise of the modern Chinese nation-state has led to the construction of "religion" as an autonomous institutional category distinct from secular state order. Since the end of the 19th century and the early 20th, the modern Chinese state's insistence on secularization and on de ning and framing acceptable religion has o en made religion an anomalous "question" in social and political life. 1 Perhaps more than in any other countries, state-driven secularization and modernization in China resulted in violent and tragic consequences inflicted by state authorities and modernity on traditional religious culture and practices. 2 While the unexpected resurgence of religious life in the post-Mao era defies the historical narrative of secularization in the West, Chinese government policy toward religion has, for the most part, sought to relentlessly enact the classic version of secularization thesis into reality to make religion irrelevant to public life. On the one hand, state-approved religious forms and contexts always play a dominant role in structuring religion's central, normative properties. On the other hand, there are also

The Problem of Political Religion

Logos i Ethos

For many centuries, the relationship between politics and religion has continued to arouse interest not only among active participants of socio-political life, but also representatives of religious institutions. In this context, politics is generally regarded as the art of gaining power and ruling a country, while religion is considered a system of beliefs and practices cultivated by a group or an individual with regard to the (variously understood) sacred. The relationship between those two crucial spheres of human activity may take up different forms: the supremacy of religion over politics, the supremacy of politics over religion, their separation, or their cooperation. In some extreme cases, the relationship leads to the emergence of a political religion.

Political Religion: Outcome and Continuity of Religious Fundamentalism

International Journal of Research in Applied, Natural and Social Sciences , 2014

In the modern age without fundamentalism as a middle stage, reaching the level of political religion is not possible even in religious and traditional society. Without making a space or field by fundamentalists and against modernity, the forming of theocratic state and using the political function of religion by religio-political groups is difficult. Maybe the relationship between religious fundamentalism and political religion is so obvious that it triggers questions as; is political religion possible without fundamentalist reaction in this modern era of traditional society? Does every fundamentalist movement lead to theocratic state? How is the relationship between religious fundamentalism and political religion? Or in the other words, what is the requirement or main factor of emergence of political religion? This article tries to answer these questions and clarify the priority of fundamentalism, as a requirement for political religion in modern age. However, it is possible for a traditional society to remain with a secular state. We can relatively witness the separation between religion and state but not separation of religion from politics. So, a traditional society in itself will not suffice in attaining a full-fledged political religion and religious government; and hence the need of fundamentalism becomes the crux of the hour.

RELIGION AND COMMUNISM IN MODERN CHINA: Clash or Synergy of Ideologies

The Montreal Review, 2011

Religion and religious institutions in Europe and around the world have been under attack since the beginning of the French Revolution in 1789. Since then, the place of religion in the organization of Share Tweet 4/5/23, 4:49 PM Religion and Communism in Modern China https://www.themontrealreview.com/2009/Religion-and-Communism-in-Modern-China.php 2/13 society, its importance and influence on individuals and the state, has been questioned as never before. How did the decline of traditional belief systems occur? How did the secular revolution begin? It began, first and foremost, with politics in the heart of Europe, with a revolt against the old political and social order of privilege and birthright. In his book The Old Regime and the French Revolution, Alexis De Tocqueville observed that in 1789-92 the revolutionary bourgeoisie rose up not against Christianity but against the Church, because its institutions were seen as part of the "old regime. " The revolutionaries treated the clergy as "landowners," as "parasites" on the body of the French nation. At that time, science was still in its infancy, and religious skepticism was heard only from a handful of voices. But in the nineteenth century, the enmity against the Church shifted, or rather expanded, to the Christian faith in general. New secular prophets appeared. They were not scientists in the modern sense, but political thinkers and philosophers. They created new and powerful ideological narratives based on politically colored Darwinism, supported by "scientific" arguments and attractive promises of successful social(ist) engineering. Although their doctrines were only theories, they defended them with religious zeal. The "scientific method" was their gospel, and in the ferment of the Industrial Revolution, with the exploding progress of science and technology, they claimed ownership of every human achievement and waged a war for the hearts and minds of the people, arguing that science and religion were two implacable enemies. The flaw and tragedy of ***

Religion and Comparative Political Sociology

Sociology Compass, 2010

In the last decade, religious politics seemed to sweep the world. Calls have been issued for religion to regain its rightful place in the study of politics. We contend that the influence of religion on politics is hardly novel and that religious beliefs and organizations have had a profound effect on polities both in the developed democracies and in developing societies. Drawing widely on the comparative sociology of politics, we trace the role of religion in the generation of political attitudes and preferences, in the process of democratization, in the formation of interest organizations and confessional parties, and consider the contemporary debate concerning religious violence. We will demonstrate the importance of religion in inspiring political behavior, including both electoral and non-electoral politics, and in the shaping of political institutions and the regulatory framework surrounding the religious sphere. Our survey indicates that neither arguments concerning the secularization of polity and society nor for the recent return of religious fervor to politics is persuasive.