Western churches and politics: frontiers of ideologic divergence

Abstract

The article deals with conflict lines in the interaction of religious institutions and political actors in Europe. Church policy in the West is seen as a practical implementation of the neo-secular approach, which implies a reduction in the role of religious institutions and church elites while remaining religiosity and quasi-religiousness. It is shown that the contradictions of state-confessional relations in Western countries pose both a threat to the value autonomy of religious organizations and an increasing trend towards the instrumentalization of religion in foreign policy. It is shown that attempts of value pressure on traditional church institutions contribute to the formation of a hostile environment that contributes to the strengthening of intra-church contradictions. As a result, religious organizations find themselves in a situation of multiplying ideological divisions and artificially pushed internal competition. The risks of reducing the institutional stability of traditional churches based on the unity of the doctrine and striving for internal unity are increasing. In this regard, the article offers an analysis of possible internal and external reactions of church institutions to the increasing pressure. As possible scenarios, the strengthening of the processes of ideological and regional autonomy and the increase in increasingly open conflicts with secular authorities in a number of countries on topical issues of the political agenda are considered. Under any of the scenarios, it is predicted that the fault line between European countries will strengthen on issues with a strong religious connotation, which may lead to an increase in social tension and deepening of divisions among the electorate in the Western states.