Post-secular Society Research Articles

후기세속사회의 종교성과 탈종교성에 대한 공공신학적 연구

후기세속사회의 종교성과 탈종교성에 대한 공공신학적 연구

Global sociology revisited: Toward new directions

As newly elected President of the International Sociological Association, I unfold my vision for new directions for global sociology. After defining what a global sociology is, I will point out two particular directions for this sociology: supplementing the postcolonial approach with an anti-authoritarian one, and theorizing post-secular society. One cannot but acknowledge the scars of the colonial era, but postcolonial studies have been rightly used but also abused. I would identify two abuses: the over-emphasis on external factors while neglecting local ones, and the binary logic of antagonistic categories such as East/West, universalism/contextualism. Thus, I make the call to supplement the postcolonial approach with an anti-authoritarian one. There are three levels of authoritarianism: one relates to the political regime; another relates rather to neoliberalism; and the third concerns attitudes. The authoritarian attitude is closely related to the difficulty of dealing with religion in our society. Global sociology should take into account in any contemporary analysis of society the new features of our post-secular society, a sort of low-key secularism in confluence with neoliberalism. In light of these two directions, I would like to see global sociology moving forward. But what should the features of this global sociology be? The article will discuss five features for global sociology.

The Eucharist as Witness of Evangelical Churches in Ukrainian Post-Secular Society

Many researchers note an active process of the returning religion to the public sphere. Jürgen Habermas labelled modern societies as postsecular. The public role of the church became especially visible in Ukraine after the Maidan 2014. This is evidenced by national projects to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in 2017, and especially by the formation of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine in 2018, as a factor in the Ukrainian identity. In Ukraine, appeared even the concept of “religious security” of the state.Under these conditions, the classical for the Enlightenment and Modernity principle of the separation of the Church and the State, with a clear dualism between the spiritual and the material, need to be revision. As many researchers have shown, at present, the idea of religious and secular turned out to be not only blurred, but also mutually intersecting.In the first 20 years of independent Ukrainian history, the missionary program of evangelicalchurches was built on Missio Ecclesiae as an activity to promote their faith and spread their views in order to expand their own organization. A search for a new missionary paradigm based on Missio Dei is currently underway. The place of the Church in this process provokes numerous discussions. Some (eg Leslie Newbegin) believe that the Church is an area of mission and the developing of the Kingdom of God should takes place through the Church enlargement, others (Joshua Searle) indicate that the Church is not the goal, but the instrument with which God establishes His Kingdom. The last point of view is becoming especially popular in the modern evangelical movement.Searle criticizes the missionary significance of the Eucharist, as well as other church rites, because for him difficult to see any connection between missio Dei and the eucharist. However, the paper shows the groundlessness of this criticism, because An. Paul makes it clear that «as often as ye eat this bread, and drink the cup, ye proclaim the Lord’s death» (1 Cor. 11:26). According to Paul’s thought, the proclamation of the death of Christ takes place when Christians partake the bread and vine. Author shows how the Eucharist supplies the Christian with the necessary strength for testimony through “judgment unto himself”, which leads to repentance and increasing in holiness. Therefore, the purpose of the Eucharist is to renew and strengthen the presence of Christ in the life of the believer for the following mission.Otherwise, modern calls for the expansion of the kingdom of God as opposed to the expansion of the Church, lead to humanistic activism, which focuses on the active participation of Christians in achieving justice, solidity with the poor and suffering, in developing social activity and so on. All this is important, but breaking the link with the Church such approach leads to weakness of the spiritual life and does not teach the feel and understand the will of God, necessary to participate in Missio Dei.For the post-secular society, the harmony of preaching and sacrament, as a visible form of faith, becomes especially relevant. The mission should be focused on the person, as a holistic creature. It should affect his soul, spirit and body, preparing him for Eschaton (1 Thess. 5:23).

Политическая идентичность японцев: гибрид религиозного и секулярного

The article analyzes the specifics of Japanese religious syncretism, which managed to adapt with great efficiency the norms of the Buddhist-Confucian complex and the autochthonous religion of Shinto. Japan is a vivid example of the harmonization of national identity, based not only on the high level of homogeneity of society, but also on the high degree of tolerance and ability to adapt and to adopt. In the political sphere, the Japanese post-secular system demonstrates the capacities of the Komeito party (Party of Pure Politics), which was created on the basis of Soka Gakkai Buddhist organization, which professes the humanistic ideas of Nichiren (1222–1282), set forth in the Lotus Sutra. Now the Komeito party plays an important role in shaping Japanese politics, coalescing with the dominant Liberal Democratic Party. The Komeito party, in particular, is effectively advocating the preservation of the 9th ‘pacific’ article of the constitution. The movement of laic Buddhists Soka Gakkai International (SGI), operating in 93 countries around the world, is widely known for cultural and educational activities and its struggle to ban nuclear weapons. Thus, Japan provides a pointed example of the combination of humanistic philosophy of human dignity and empowerment with political activity, which determines the nature of Japanese post-secular society.

Moral challenges of Ukrainian post-secular society: social and value worth of tolerance

The moral and ethical situation in Ukraine is considered in an issue in the light of analysis of the realities which characterize the modern social, cultural and spiritual reality. Having concluded that the main right of any person is a right to own dignity, an author highlights that the realization of respect for Other is a problem for modern Ukraine which demands an urgent solution. A characteristic of presented in Ukrainian’s society systems of “deeds” and “choices” is provided in the issue for determination of the key research arguments. The systems give the essential meanings to “good” and “evil” definitions on the way of highlighting some axiological vectors for imbalance correction that characterize Ukrainian social, cultural and spiritual realities. The methodological coordinate system of an issue refers to the elements of Fr. Nietzsche’s work which is used for reality peculiarities’ definition, and to the ethical system of Christian guidelines which are noted for ideas’ expressiveness under current tradition. An author appeals to Ch. Taylor’s studies for a search of crucial ethical ideas, which are able to harmonize the relationships with Others within a country as well as beyond it. Due to the author a way of positive realities transformation (in moral, spiritual, social and civil directions) in Ukraine consists in deliberate wish to overcome the stereotypes of slave morality (when everyone is a “threat” for everybody) and change the system of actions depended on such type of morality. That required the true community work in a direction of national intellectual enrichment, national spiritual development according to the system of educational and cultural initiatives.

A culture of dialogue. vision, pedagogy and dialogic skills for the RE classroom

ABSTRACT The Catholic Church has recently issued a call for “educating to fraternal humanism” that envisions a pluralist society in which all voices are to be heard. This contrasts with previously held positions of outright rejection of pluralist society (Augustinian Thomism) or Christianisation (Whig Thomism). This paper advances a Dominican Thomist vision of a post-secular society comprising three realms, namely sacred, secular and profane. Dominican Thomism is founded upon human reasoning whereby Catholic and liberal thinkers collaborate to build this society with a fortified secular realm that is a buffer against the other two realms. In such a secular realm the public sphere is pluralist and open to all voices. A socially productive pedagogy is the starting point and this paper points to a dialogic RE intervention in the classroom that offers much promise.

КОНТУРЫ ПОСТСЕКУЛЯРНОГО ОБЩЕСТВА: ПОЛИТИЧЕСКИЕ ОСНОВАНИЯ И СИМВОЛИЧЕСКИЕ РЕСУРСЫ

The article deals with the basic concepts of post-secular society and reveals the role of the past as a symbolic resource of the religious community legitimization. The specificity of post-secular society is the politicization of religion and the inclusion of religious interpretations of the past in the symbolic competition of political actors

Notions of a postsecular nation

In ‘Notes on a Postsecular Society’, Jurgen Habermas argues that European nations now face the unsettling of long-held givens about the relationship between the secular and the modern. It was believed that as modernity spread throughout the world, so would a secular way of life. This has come under review because of growing religious minorities (Muslims in particular) in Europe itself, who have led European peoples to rethink the nature and future of their secularity. Both Michel Houellebecq’s Soumission (2015) and Sabri Louatah’s novel series Les Sauvages (2011–2016) present postsecular scenarios in which a French president from a minority North African Muslim community is elected. I explore the differentiated way in which both tales suggest that social change means a renegotiation of the narratives that help to make up the social fabric (whether these be literary, scriptural, or political), and explore the role of literary writing in this renegotiation.

Pop theology: forum discussions on religion in videogames

ABSTRACT Players of videogames are talking about religion. Despite longstanding theories of Western religious decline, recent scholarship has assessed that religious traditions and narratives feature prominently in videogames. In order to answer how player communities in game culture deal with religion in games, this study analyzes online discussions (N = 100) and interviews with strategically selected players (N = 20) to assess which games provoke discussions about religion, which religious topics are discussed about these games and what implications this has for theories of religious privatization. Based on the analysis, players are divided into four ideal-typical positions: players of all beliefs either Reject, Debunk, Debate or actively Connect with the worldviews presented in the games they play. In all, this online engagement with religion, gods and the nature of holy texts, presents a ‘pop theology’ of amateurs showing an interest in and having a public conversation about religion in the face of a post-secular society.

The Faith-Based Organization in the Post-Secular Society

Faith-based organizations have begun to be analyzed from the point of view of the efficiency and effectiveness of services provided with the re-emergence of the religious element at the forefront of public discourse, and the recognition of the partial failure of policies for forced separation of social services from the religious element, as well as their secularization. This trend, started in the US, quickly became an important one in the UK and generally in Europe, where religious communities were reconsidered as partners of public social services (Beaumont & Cloke, 2012; Dinham & Lowndes, 2008). This change, in the sense of moving to a post-secular social assistance, comes in the wider context of post-secular society, at least in part recognizing the role of religious communities as a depository of traditions and a facilitator of community energies, a source of motivation for human resources and, in general, the promoter of the public good (Dinham, Furbey, & Lowndes, 2009).

The great antagonism that never was: unexpected affinities between religion and education in post-secular society

A persistent sociological thesis posits that the spread of formal education causes an inevitable decline in religion as a social institution and diminishes adherence to religious beliefs in postindustrial society. Now that worldwide advanced education is a central agent in developing and disseminating Western rationality emphasizing science as the ultimate truth claim about a humanly constructed society and the natural world this seems an ever more relevant thesis. Yet in the face of a robust “education revolution,” religion and spirituality endure, and in certain respects thrive, thus creating a sociological paradox: How can both expanding education and mass religion coexist? The solution proposed here is that instead of educational development setting the conditions for the decline and eventual death of religion, the two institutions have been, and continue to be, more compatible and even surprisingly symbiotic than is often assumed. This contributes to a culture of mass education and mass religion that is unique in the history of human society, exemplified by the heavily educated and churched United States. After a brief review of the empirical trends behind the paradox, a new confluence of streams of research on compatible worldviews, overlapping ideologies, and their enactments in educational and religious social movements illustrates the plausibility of an affinity argument and its impact on theory about post-secular society.

Religion and war - the return of the written-off

Famous German sociologist and philosopher, Jurgen Habermas, often points out that we not only live in postmodern but in ?post-secular society? as well. This post-secular society appears as a significant opposite to the society which we heard about several decades ago, and which was mostly secular or striving towards secularity. Almost all of the 20th century, and especially decades after World War II, was marked with stands that religion and the Holy are losing its significance in contemporary society. However, at the end of the 20th and especially at the beginning of the turbulent 21st century, we are witnessing the fact that religion is not defeated. More precisely, it did not lose its place both in private and public life. It is obvious that religion was ?under the radar? for different anticipators from the 20th century, which proved that it is still a complex social phenomenon that cannot be easily explained nor predicted. How did religion come back from ?nonsense? to the main stage of important contemporary social phenomena? What are the potentials of religion in causing, and what in the pacification of conflicts? What are the characteristics of religion-inspired conflicts, then and now? How contemporary monotheisms see the (just) war? These are some of the questions we tried to answer in this paper through the review of contemporary literature and content analysis. The author simultaneously analysed if numbers about the increase of believers in the world (absolute) and numbers in the percentage of faithful ones (relative) are valid indicators that religion returned in the context of former importance. Based on trends existing in this field during the last forty years, as well as on historical heritage left behind by contemporary monotheisms, the paper also presents a framework for a prognosis about the future of religion in the context of the upcoming conflicts.

Säkularisierung – Wiederkehr der Religionen – Postsäkularismus

In his contribution, Hartmut Zinser views the processes of secularization within European or so-called Western societies, which have mainly taken place since the Enlightenment, through the lens of the sociology of religion. Starting from a definition of the profane and the sacred, he considers the historical "transition of sacralized objects into a secular use" and then explains why the so-called "secularization thesis", which assumes "an increasing replacement of the meaning of religion as a universal historical process," today cannot be considered valid anymore and is finished. But what consequences does this have for a modern, post-secular society as religions leave the "private" sphere, regain the public space and aspire again to social participation? Zinser approaches this question in the last chapter of his essay, where he also deals with the position of Jürgen Habermas in this regard.

Actualization of family values in the post-sacral day: Challenges for the State and Church

The article is devoted to the problems of the modern family faced with the complicated challenges of the XXI century in post-secular society.
 In place of the religious world order, which regulated family relations for millenia, based on unchanging religious dogmas, a new era comes, which strongly refuses religious consecration of marriage and family, in a new way constituting the relations of secular state and church, desacralizes morality. The secular gradually covers the family and family ties, partly solving prejudiced problems of inequality of articles and generations, inequalities of social roles, and so on. Instead of changing the religious model of the family, a new type of family relationship comes in, based on the freedom of each member of the family, freeing them from slavery.
 However, the secular day raises new problems, including social orphanhood, violence, single-parent families, drug addiction, etc., which need to be resolved in the post-secular society. These problems are perceived as religious (religious-based families) and non-religious (families that do not put God or gods at the heart of their relationship) families who are looking for ways out of the crisis.
 The article defines the signs of this post-secular society, where both religious and secular ones exist simultaneously. In return, the separation of the secular from the religious and the suppression of the religious secular, the absolute priority of the secular over the religious comes another model. Religion on the wave of religious revival is actively included in the public sphere, is clearly represented in various social projects, including family, so that religion gradually increases its authority and influence.
 In this situation, facing the complex challenges facing the family, the religious and secular worlds are forced to seek such forms of communion in order to jointly solve the problems that have arisen. Ukraine still has to overcome mutual distrust, ignorance of opportunities of each other, accumulate resources, since both the church and the state work on one subject - a citizen of the state and a believer church.

Postsecular Catholicism: Relevance and Renewal by Michele Dillon (review)

Book Reviews Postsecular Catholicism: Relevance and Renewal, Michele Dillon, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018), 214 pages. Irish sociologist of religion Michele Dillon, based in the University of New Hampshire, has written a most timely book exploring how Catholicism negotiates the tension between the forces of tradition and those of change. Dillon’s enquiry is anchoredinthecontextofAmericanCatholicism,butmany of the tensions she writes about are also present in Australia, Latin America and Western Europe (including Ireland). She is asking how Catholicism can maintain public relevance and how it can engage with citizens, both religious and non-believers, in a search for the common good. She begins by outlining the context within which Catholicism operates. Modernity, with its commitment to reason, human equality, democracy and science, has resulted in a secular world and society, within which religions operate. But this, according to Habermas, is a ‘contrite modernity’, whose historical experience of the brutalities of two world wars is accompanied by contemporary failures like the exacerbation of economic inequality, the marginalisation of certain social groups (e.g. the poor, immigrants, refuges), the ecological problem, declining confidence in democratic political institutions and new strands of alienation reflected in the feeling of being ‘a stranger in one’s own land’. Dillon, again drawing on Habermas, argues that religions can help to rescue modernity from its dead-end. She posits a postsecular society and sensibility, which recognises that, while secularisation is the settled reality, religion has public relevance and culturally useful resources for addressing contemporary societal ills. Thus, postsecularity requires appreciation of the mutual relevance and intertwined pull of the religious and secular. This means that they need to speak with and not simply about one another. And in this dialogue they should be open, reflexively, to reconsidering their own assumptions and convictions in the light of those with whom they differ. For this ‘communicative openness’ to happen, since secularisation is the settled reality, religious arguments will need to be Studies • volume 107 • number 428 507 Winter 2018/19: Book Reviews translated into an accessible secular vocabulary. Dillon gives an example of what she means – religious participants could translate the Christian belief that Jesus died and was resurrected for the salvation of all people into the secular argument that all people have equal dignity (p.8). There have, of course, been challenges from the Christian side to the exigencies involved in this norm of ‘translation’ advocated by Habermas. One notes the ‘thin’ language of human dignity in the example given compared to the richness of the theological tradition on the death and resurrection of Jesus, grace and salvation. However Dillon herself – as she develops her thought – is clear that Catholic Social Teaching, for example, which is bi-lingual in speaking in specifically Christian language but then also in language accessible to all, fulfils the requirement of communicative openness. Translation, then, does not mean precluding altogether the original. Dillon notes that the notion of a contrite modernity resonates well with what might be called a contrite Catholicism. This contrition, which sometimes feels like defeatism, is down to many factors including the sexual abuse scandal, the ever-widening gap between church teaching on sex and gender and the lived experience of lay Catholics and the growth in the numbers of the religiously unaffiliated, especially among young adults. And so Dillon sees emancipatory potential for both modernity and Catholicism in this postsecular dialogue. The rest of the book is an exploration of how this dialogue is going and might go in the future, with indications of the steps Catholicism and modernity/secularism need to take to make it more fruitful. Dillon notes how the secular has already influenced Catholicism itself in its turn to ‘interpretive diversity’, personal conscience and discernment, and away from unquestioning acceptance of authority. She notes the incipient presence of a postsecular sensibility in Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI but sees Pope Francis as the one who most embodies this turn. Taking Christian doctrines like the incarnation and the immanence of God, and imbued with the Ignatian charism of finding God in all things, he is at home in discerning the presence of the Spirit in contemporary realities, in distinguished between what is of God...

The anti-gender movement in Italy: Catholic participation between electoral and protest politics

ABSTRACTBetween 2013 and 2016, a broad range of Catholic groups following pro-life and pro-family agendas has conducted a large anti-gender campaign, whose main result was the definition of a Catholic anti-gender movement in Italy. The anti-gender movement, opposed to the approval of the bill on civil unions for same-sex couples and the introduction of gender education programs in schools, has grown in popularity, becoming a source of participation and protest for politically committed Catholic and social conservative actors. The emergence and consolidation of the movement has marked a new phase of political Catholicism characterized, on the one hand, by an intensification of protest and lobbying activities in the public and political arenas and, on the other, by a descent into the electoral arena of a part of the movement with the constitution of an autonomous political subject, the People of the Family party. This article proposes to analyze the dynamics of politicization of the anti-gender cause, with the aim of advancing the argument that long-lasting dilemmas are still affecting Catholic politics concerning the best strategies to combine religious coherence, political representation and consensus for the Italian Catholic militancy in an increasingly complex post-secular society.

Orthodox Fasting in a Postsecular Society: The Case of Contemporary Russia

The article deals with the revival of fasting in Russia after a long period of its nearly full neglect. On the basis of electronic sources, such as web forums, question-and-answer services, streaming video channels, and other publications the author shows how the clergy and the laity together discuss, collectively test and evaluate diverse fasting practices. The discourse on fasting practices in Russia is polyphonic and highly personalized; even the clergy has no single authoritative position. It remains unclear, who should be responsible for fasting mitigation in case of illness, pregnancy, or other circumstances; people are exposed to many different opinions, what results in confusion and anxiety. The article shows that contemporary believers—including the clergy—are not ready to follow tradition blindly. The discussants are roughly divided into two groups: those supporting traditional rules (fasting from animal products), and those inventing their own practices (fasting from sweets, or switching to cheaper foods). Both groups are interested in rational, mundane arguments in support of their choice: the traditionalists emphasize that fasting from meat is “healthy”, or that Lenten food is “tastier”; their opponents point out that fish and seafood are more expensive than dairy products and poultry; therefore, no money can be saved for the destitute.

Symbols of who we are Called to Become Sacraments in a Post-Secular and Post-Christian Society

Symbols of who we are Called to Become Sacraments in a Post-Secular and Post-Christian Society

Playing the Other: Role-playing religion in videogames

In contemporary ‘post-secular society’, videogames like Assassin’s Creed, BioShock Infinite or World of Warcraft are suffused with religious elements. Departing from a critique on studies perceiving such in-game representations as discriminatory forms of religious Othering, the main research question of this article is: how does role-playing the (non-)religious Other in games affect the worldview of players? The study is based on a qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews held with 20 international players from different (non-)religious backgrounds. Rather than seeing religion in games as representations of ‘Othering’, the analysis demonstrates that players from different (non-)religious beliefs take on different worldviews while role-playing the (non-)religious Other. Atheists relativize their own position, opening up to the logic of religious worldviews; Christians, Hindus and Muslims, in turn, compare traditions and may draw conclusions about the similarities underlying different world religions. Other players ‘slip into a secular mindset’, gradually turning towards the position of a ‘religious none’. It is concluded that playing the religious Other in videogames provides the opportunity to suspend (non-)religious worldviews and empathize with the (non-)religious Other. The relevance of these findings is related to broader sociological debates about ‘post-secular society’ and the alleged increase of religious fundamentalism, conflict and mutual Othering.

The Golden Rule: Interfaith Peacemaking and the Charter for Compassion

The Charter for Compassion has been signed by over two million people from around the world and partnered with hundreds of interfaith organizations and cities seeking to put into practice the Golden Rule, common to the main faith traditions, of doing unto others as you would be done by. This article sets the Charter within the context of a post secular international society and faith-based diplomacy, in which religious interreligious initiatives emerge as serious, rather than peripheral, actors in developing sustainable peace making through bottom-up approaches. The article critically engages with the Charter's claim that ‘any interpretation of scripture that breeds violence, hatred or disdain is illegitimate’ while accepting that peaceful interpretations of scriptures are helpful to peace processes where religious actors are involved. The article explores the claims of the Charter for Compassion International as they seek to make peace through compassion, before concluding that the Charter for Compassion is a long-term project aimed at changing hearts and minds but has had limited substantive impact to date.