Religious Democracy Research Articles

Daniel Warner and the Paradox of Religious Democracy in Nineteenth-Century America, by Thomas A. Fudge

<i>Daniel Warner and the Paradox of Religious Democracy in Nineteenth-Century America</i>, by Thomas A. Fudge

Religion and Global Affairs: Religious Activation and Democracy in Latin America

Religion and Global Affairs: Religious Activation and Democracy in Latin America

The Struggle Against Noriega

Political activism and the critique of the ruling system are important: Intellectuals have a moral obligation to reduce the pain and suffering of human beings ([Karl] Popper, [Richard] Rorty). Dictatorships and tyrannical systems impose pain and suffering on their people in various ways. The endeavor to rid people of the evil of authoritarian systems and to replace them with free and democratic ones is valuable in its own right. In today’s world, dictatorship has become so infamous and the appeal of democracy so universal that even tyrants try to present their systems as a kind of democracy (indigenous democracy, religious democracy, Asian democracy, African democracy, people’s democracy). Intellectuals and the elite should not excuse themselves from their moral duty. The intellectual elite have been injecting disappointment and hopelessness, passivity and indifference into Iranian society during recent years, whereas one must create hope and inject life and passion and exuberance into the society. Doing this demands self-sacrifice, boldness, and intrepidity. History has shown that giant steps have been taken only by men who were brave, idealistic, and self-sacrificing. . . . Yes, it is true that all problems and dilemmas are not going to be resolved by politics alone or solely through democracy. Neither is the ruling political system the only, or even the biggest, problem of society, so that by changing it all problems would be resolved. Cultural problems have cultural solutions. Economic problems have economic solutions. Social problems need social solutions. It is also clear that Akbar Ganji, a leading Iranian dissident, is described by Azar Nafisi on the preceding pages. The text below consists of extensive excerpts from Ganji’s “Republican Manifesto II,” which was written prior to Iran’s 2005 presidential election. A complete English translation of this work, which is more than twice as long as these excerpts, may be found at http://freeganji.blogspot.com. That translation has been amended in various places in the text below.

Assessing the New England Mind

A number of factors have combined to obscure the Puritan mind from contemporary view. Until about a century ago, Puritan history both in England and America was written mostly from anti-Puritan, post-Restoration sources. Thomas Carlyle's Letters and Speeches of Oliver Cromwell marked a turning point in this practice, and the works of Samuel Rawson Gardiner and of Sir Charles Firth gave seventeenth century English Puritanism a narrowly interpreted, but fairer, hearing. The New England Puritan, however, received little real benefit. The political historian and the economic determinist despised theology and, accordingly, lacked the chief instrument whereby to probe the Puritan mind. Moreover, the American historian, steeped in nineteenth century liberalist notions and mightily affected by the English Whig tradition in history writing, usually made the historical error of reading into the New England mind ideas which are the results of nineteenth and twentieth century experience. Accordingly, they read backward into colonial history merely to emphasize the Puritans as forerunners of religious toleration, democracy, and capitalism (all of which, in the contemporary sense, the Puritan would have abhorred from1 the bottom of his soul!). These writers refused to believe any people could be as religious as the Puritans pretended and they concluded either that Puritans were all hypocrites or that a hypocritical Puritan clergy tyrannized a defenseless people until the latter, in righteous desperation, overthrew the bigoted priests and let in the pure air of eighteenth century rationalism.

Book Review: Can a Religious Democracy Survive?

Book Review: Can a Religious Democracy Survive?

Religious Education and American Democracy. Walter Scott Athearn. The Pilgrim Press. 1917. Pp. xiii, 394. $1.50.

Religious Education and American Democracy. Walter Scott Athearn. The Pilgrim Press. 1917. Pp. xiii, 394. $1.50.

Religious Education and Democracy. Benjamin S. Winchester

<i>Religious Education and Democracy</i>. Benjamin S. Winchester

Making over Religious Democracy

Previous articleNext article FreeMaking over Religious DemocracyHenry K. RoweHenry K. Rowe Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Volume 48, Number 4Oct., 1916 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/475614 Views: 52 Journal History This article was published in The Biblical World (1893-1920), which is continued by The American Journal of Theology (1897-1920). PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.