Process Of Secularization Research Articles

Religion, secularism, and postsecularism in Chinese internet literature

Abstract Internet literature emerged in China in the 1990s and became commercialized in the early 2000s, with readers paying an access fee, which is split between literary platforms and their contracted writers, to access popular novels. While the most popular genre is fantasy, a type of imaginative literature devoted to invoking magic beyond the limits of empirical reality and scientific rationality, the primary source of magic for Chinese fantasy is traditional Chinese cosmology and its concrete applications in everyday practices. These ideas and practices, the onto-epistemic-practical foundation of Chinese religion before the twentieth century, were considered superstitious and targeted for elimination in modernizing and secularization processes. However, they have not only survived but taken up a new life in fantasy novels, which depict them as the antecedents of, alternatives to, or more advanced forms than modern scientific endeavors at engineering natural environments and enhancing human bodies. This is why I see online fantasy literature as a palimpsest bearing the traces of Chinese religion, Chinese secularism, and the social conditions of contemporary China. In bearing such traces, this literature exemplifies the postsecular.

Secularization: A Response from Canon Law Based on the Concept of the “Church on the Move” and Cooperation with the Civil Order in Cases of Abuse of Minors by Priests

The influence of secularization and secularism in today’s society has led to a process of privatization of religion. Faced with this reality, Pope Francis, in his Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii gaudium, has promoted the need for a pastoral conversion, betting on a “Church going out” that, on the one hand, can cope with this process and, on the other hand, go out to meet all those people who suffer in the existential peripheries. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate, through a qualitative and quantitative methodology, how canon law is a reality that cannot stand aside from this call and how, in the specific area of child abuse within the Church, it must opt for a position that we call “expansion” or extra ecclesiam, capable of recognizing and dealing with the cases that have occurred, as well as operating a system of cooperation with the civil order, with the aim of promoting justice and the common good of society, in order to limit the growing process of secularization.

The Interaction Between Japanese Buddhism and Christianity in the Meiji Period

Although initially fraught with tension, spanning roughly two decades, Buddhists employed various strategies to combat the spread of Christianity and uphold their traditional values. As the 1890s dawned, a new wave of Buddhists emerged, spearheading the reconstruction of Japanese Buddhism through processes of secularization and westernization in alignment with the currents of the Meiji Restoration. This paper delves into the intricate relationship between Buddhism and Christianity in Japan following the Perry Expedition. By scrutinizing the writings and orations of numerous Buddhist leaders spanning the period from the 1860s to the 1890s, this paper elucidates the multifaceted conflicts and interactions between Japanese Buddhism and Christianity. A nuanced analysis of their endeavors, reveals the evolving dynamics and strategies employed by both religions in navigating their coexistence in Japan's religious landscape, where both involuntarily made corresponding relative changes to be involved in social trends and Japanese traditions. This paper also discusses the cooperation and potential union between the two religions at the beginning of the 19th century, when New Buddhists received education in Western philosophy and examined Christianity. In short, the Buddhist-Christian relationship underwent a conversion from opponents to equal religion, even collaboratively enforcing social justice and care.

The Interaction Between Japanese Buddhism and Christianity in the Meiji Period

Although initially fraught with tension, spanning roughly two decades, Buddhists employed various strategies to combat the spread of Christianity and uphold their traditional values. As the 1890s dawned, a new wave of Buddhists emerged, spearheading the reconstruction of Japanese Buddhism through processes of secularization and westernization in alignment with the currents of the Meiji Restoration. This paper delves into the intricate relationship between Buddhism and Christianity in Japan following the Perry Expedition. By scrutinizing the writings and orations of numerous Buddhist leaders spanning the period from the 1860s to the 1890s, this paper elucidates the multifaceted conflicts and interactions between Japanese Buddhism and Christianity. A nuanced analysis of their endeavors, reveals the evolving dynamics and strategies employed by both religions in navigating their coexistence in Japan's religious landscape, where both involuntarily made corresponding relative changes to be involved in social trends and Japanese traditions. This paper also discusses the cooperation and potential union between the two religions at the beginning of the 19th century, when New Buddhists received education in Western philosophy and examined Christianity. In short, the Buddhist-Christian relationship underwent a conversion from opponents to equal religion, even collaboratively enforcing social justice and care.

Contemporary Turkish and Western historiography on post-secularisation processes in Turkey

The assessment of secularisation and post-secularisation processes that took place in Turkey in the 20th century are associated by scholars with internal and global socio-political processes such as collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the establishment of the Turkish Republic, the course towards Westernisation, the development of capitalism, the confrontation between the West and the USSR, etc. This issue was preferred as the subject of the study as it is topical due to the revival of religious values, despite the secularisation processes that engulfed many countries worldwide. This article examines the representation of post-secularisation processes in Turkey through assessing the works of Western and Turkish scholars. The analysis of these works provides an understanding of the consequences of historical events in the form of the phenomenon of “religious revival”.

Acceptance of euthanasia by students of selected study disciplines at universities in Lublin, Poland

BackgroundIn the context of discussions between supporters and opponents of euthanasia, and legal regulations regarding this type of practices, the attitude of young people with respect to this phenomenon is a very interesting issue. According to Polish law, euthanasia is prohibited. The aim of this study was to determine the degree of acceptance of euthanasia among students from Polish universities across three different fields of study: psychology, medicine, and economic-technical disciplines, and to identify the factors associated with the acceptance of this phenomenon.MethodsThe study included 627 persons studying in Lublin, Poland: medicine (280), psychology (170), and economic-technical studies (177). The study was conducted as a survey using questionnaire containing items concerning students’ attitudes towards euthanasia. The analysis of the collected data was conducted using the SPSS software (version 29) with the following methods: Chi2, Student’s t-test, Phi test, Cramer’s V test, Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, one-way ANOVA with Dunnett’s post hoc test, linear regression analysis, and categorical regression analysis using optimal scaling (CATREG).ResultsNearly half of the students participating in the study (45.9%) rated the practice of euthanasia as decidedly negative. The highest number of strongly negative evaluations was found among psychology students, and the least among students of economic-technical disciplines. The level of acceptance of euthanasia is significantly associated with religious involvement and studying psychology. Being religious and being a psychology student both contribute to lower acceptance of euthanasia and a lower willingness to consent to euthanasia. Consent to euthanasia is more commonly declared by individuals with experience of living with elderly people.ConclusionsAlthough nearly half of the respondents expressed a negative attitude towards euthanasia, considering the secularization process among Polish youth, it can be assumed that the level of acceptance of euthanasia in this social group will increase. The lower level of acceptance of euthanasia among psychology and medical students compared to students of economic-technical disciplines suggests that the curricula of these studies present alternative solutions to the problems of terminally ill patients other than euthanasia.

Зло как категория современного политического мышления

The article attempts to analyze the understanding of evil both in contemporary political discourse and in everyday word usage. For this purpose, it is proposed to revisit the problem of theodicy, since evil is almost always used in a religious sense. The article distinguishes between the process of secularization, as a result of which the omnipotence of God becomes the property and instrument of political power, and the deconstruction of Christianity, which allows us to move from political theology to secular theodicy, where our ability to think and recognize evil in the world, rather than the problem of God's justification, comes to the fore. The author argues that this is impossible within the framework of political theology, where political evil always conceals and justifies itself. This is the fate of all theodicies, which Kant calls “doctrinal,” in which reason, making a claim against god (or transcendence) is always able to justify it. Kant considers the Book of Job to be the only “authentic” theodicy in which it is suffering itself, or Job's conscience, immanent to the world, that sues god. This is an important step in the direction of secular theodicy, but it is also limited in its desire to be subsumed by deity or authority. The paper suggests that we should pay attention to Job's wife's call to her husband to “curse the Lord and die.” These words become the origin of an alternative theodicy – a theodicy of action, a theodicy of the victim refusing to speak to god. The author finds the beginnings of such a theodicy in Jules Michelet's historical analysis of the religious massacres of witches, where the latter appear as victims, as well as in Jean Amery's analysis of torture and his idea of the rehabilitation of the ressentiment. The line of rebellion leading from the words of Job's wife to the unprecedented forms of violence of power provoked by the fear of this rebellion leads to the understanding of evil not as religious (opposing good), but as a political phenomenon of the modern world, manifested in excessive violence against the powerless victim.

The future of religious pasts: religion and cultural heritage-making in a secular age – introduction

ABSTRACT The question of how to symbolize collective identities in an age marked by both nationalist fervor and diversity politics has dominated public debates and highlighted the political role of religion. But what happens to religious objects, sites, and practices when they are framed as cultural heritage? What are the forces behind the ways in which religion is drawn into the dynamics around cultural heritage and heritage-making in secular societies? And why and how do some religious places become iconic sites of cultural heritage, arousing both national sentiments and global concerns? In this article, we explore the complex politics around religion and cultural heritage and scrutinize how they intersect with processes of secularization, and regimes of diversity and secularism. We argue that there is a growing tendency in contemporary societies to culturalize religion, suggesting that the framing of collective heritage is closely linked to what counts as religion and as culture in everyday life and in official discourse. We theorize this dynamic through the concept of ‘heritage religion’ and contend that it offers a distinctive material perspective on the culturalisation of religion. Drawing on Durkheim, we point out how processes of religious heritage-making produce new forms of sacredness.

Politický mýtus, Thomas Robert Malthus a vznik árijské rasové imaginace

The emergence of Nazi ideology and the rise of Nazism represented one of the most dramatic and tragic events of modern times, the consequences of which humanity is still dealing with today. The doctrine of the superiority of the Aryan race was an integral part of Nazi doctrine and served as a “scientific” justification for German expansionism and the policy of ethnic genocide. The Nazi conception of the German nation as the chosen Aryan racial community was identified as an example of a modern political myth by Henry Tudor in the early 1970s [Tudor 1972: 16]. We will attempt to explain the rise of Aryan ideology using the concept of political myth and Blumenberg’s notion of “work on myth” as the result of the long development of Western genealogical speculation, which underwent a process of secularization during the Enlightenment and once combined with stimuli coming from contemporary natural sciences, was used under the conditions of modern industrial society to “rationally” legitimize inequalities between people. A parallel development, consisting in the attempt to deny by scientific arguments the equality of human beings, despite the spread of liberal ideas inspired, among others, by the American and French Revolutions, took place in the economic sciences, where the doctrine of the British political economist Thomas Robert Malthus gained prominence at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Malthusianism, Aryan race ideology, Social Darwinism, or the eugenics movement thus had a common denominator, which Friedrich August von Hayek called the “counter-revolution of science” or Zeev Sternhell “counter-Enlightenment”.

The digital afterlife between hypersecularization and postsecularity in contemporary speculative TV seriality: Devs, Upload and Black Mirror’s ‘San Junipero’

This article explores representations of the digital afterlife in contemporary speculative TV seriality within the broader context of their attitudes towards the fate of religions and religiosity in contemporary society. Specifically, it examines the miniseries Devs, the Black Mirror episode ‘San Junipero’ and the dramedy series Upload. Set in a near future, these series present distinctive and contrasting views on the future of religion in the public sphere, as well as in private life, and on the development of secularization processes, along with the entanglements between secular, religious and moral concerns. The article highlights how texts such as those considered exemplify the current transitional phase western societies are experiencing, wherein conventional narratives of secularization and more complex deconstructions of the secular–religious divide coexist. Through the various ways in which a futuristic yet imaginable setting like the digital afterlife is envisioned and represented, these texts articulate postsecular and hypersecularized accounts of near-future societies. The digital afterlife thus emerges as a tool for exploring different world-views, forms of morality and conceptions of everyday life and the meaning of human existence.

The Critique of Secularism by Talal Asad as a Chance to Look for New Ways of Proclamation

In democratic societies, it is taken for granted to withdraw religiosity from public life. In this paper, we point to Talal Asad’s critique of this taken-for-grantedness. Using his genealogical method, he attempts to find the origin of this relegation of religiosity to the private sphere. The concept of secularity, he argues, is primarily an expression of the power of those who insist on enlightened reason. At the same time, secularism becomes, in a sense, a new religion, the only one acceptable in a democratic society. While we point out the causes of the secularization process, we also point out the aspects that are problematic in such a conception of religion. The Church’s response must take into account the process of secularization, but it must not fall into the same logic that led to this process in the first place. We point out the danger that the separation between the sacred and the profane, the physical and the spiritual, is increasing even in the new religious movements. We therefore propose a form of proclamation that involves the whole person and addresses him or her in everyday life.

Rising Security and Religious Decline: Refining and Extending Insecurity Theory

Abstract Explaining the reasons—while not the causes—behind religious decline is a central issue for sociologists interested in secularization processes. Many theoretical perspectives have been proposed over the last decades, and this article focuses on one of them. In particular, it refers to the so-called insecurity theory, formalized by Norris and Inglehart (2011), which reads processes of religious decline in light of the increased security coming with modernization. It summarizes the empirical evidence proposed so far by distinguishing between individual and contextual insecurity and static and longitudinal approaches. Moreover, it underlines the difference between economic and existential insecurity as well as the leading role of socialization processes. From this basis, it provides a summary of the main potential weaknesses of the theory and the main criticisms leveled against it, in order to expand its theoretical relevance and clarify what insecurity theory can, and cannot, tell us about secularization processes.

The Evolutionary Masks of Love: Continuities between Judeo-Christian Religious Love and Modern Secular Love

The aim of this paper is to establish a series of links between some of the main religious formulas that arise in Judaism and Christianism and the romantic and confluent love characteristic of modern societies. To carry it out, firstly, we analyze love in historical Judaism, reflecting on the Ahavah formula, the predominant formula in this religious context. Secondly, to study the Christian drift of love, we first analyze how the emergence of this new religious faith (Christianism) provokes a change in the Jewish way of understanding it (love). Subsequently, we analyze some of the three main formulas in which love materializes in Christianism: Agape, Caritas, and Amor Sui. Regarding modern love, we first carry out a contextualization focused on the processes of secularization and individualization, and their impact on it. Afterwards, we present the main features that define both romantic and confluent love, and finally, we analyze the Judeo-Christian characters inherited for such types of love. The methodology used focused on a literature review and theoretical reflection based on this review. The research carried out allows us to establish sociological continuities between Judeo-Christian religious love and modern secular love in the terms used throughout the paper.

THE TRANSHUMANISM – PARADIGM OF SECULARIZATION AN ORTHODOX PERSPECTIVE

The phenomenology of secularization is in a continuous change, generated by the alterability of all main aspects of life: the socio-political, cultural, and human psychophysiological environment, all these being affected by the technology and lifestyle specific to the 21st century. In the field of modern technology, the scientific discoveries and the fast technological progress have led most notably to an „inhuman technicalization of life”, with a strong echo in the spiritual plan of human existence. The acceleration of these changes in the last decades, have clothed the process of secularization in a new, modern garment, semantically altering the term „progress”, in an ideological way. Sciences, culture, health, medicine, life, man, and even his nature, are targeted by a radical change, through technology, with the declared purpose of an eternal state of well-being, of infinitely improved capbilitiess of the human intellect and physique

A socio-historical study of the emergence of celebrity culture in Iran: causes and roots

ABSTRACT This research provides a socio-historical analysis of the emergence of celebrity culture in Iran, covering the period from 1817 to 1961. The historical period is divided into four periods: During the first period (1817–1925), communication technologies were introduced to the country mainly through the Qajar kings’ intermediation. In the second period (1925–1941), Reza Shah improved the infrastructure of the country and initiated institutionalisation and legislation processes. In the third period (1941–1951), which coincided with Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi’s reign, the first Iranian celebrities emerged. The fourth period (1951–1961) witnessed a significant increase in cultural intermediaries and certain social changes, leading to the emergence of Iranian celebrity culture in the mid-1950s. While Iranian celebrity culture was influenced by global trends such as population growth, urbanisation, economic growth, inequality, commodification, and consumerism, the impact of local patterns and perceptions cannot be ignored. In contrast to Western societies, the rise of celebrity culture in Iran was facilitated by an anti-democratic coup in 1953, and the secularisation process in this country was not the result of gradual changes in societal values, beliefs, or attitudes. Rather, it was a political project imposed from the top down by a military ruler.

Weathering the storm. catholic schools facing the Church’s crisis in the last decade in Chile

ABSTRACT Religious schools are facing cultural and social challenges at a time when secularisation processes are accelerating in Chile. This obstacle is particularly true for Catholic Schools (made up more than 90% of religious schools in the country) that, in the last decade, have had to function over an internal crisis due to sexual abuse by the clergy. Catholic education, specifically schooling, has had a long-standing importance in the country, which adds another layer of symbolic difficulties. In this article, we present the results of a study that aimed to describe the changes experienced by the Catholic school subsystem concerning the institutional affiliation of schools to the Church, their eligibility, and school enrolment in Chile from 2013-2022. Using a quantitative research design, we found no clear relationships between changes in key variables in Catholic Church-more linked schools and the crisis of this Church, except for the drop in eligibility in one of the five analysed Chile´s administrative regions. We discussed possible explanations for what we defined as an inelastic demand for Catholic schools in the country. We also propose ways to continue the research on the matter.

Differentiating Religion from Problem and Religious Problems from Each Other: Before and Today

This study aims to understand and interpret the process of turning religion into a problem. Expressed differently, religious problems in the context of globalization will be the object of historical analysis regarding their meaning and interpretation. Although this analysis can be done in a separate way of treatment, perhaps as a preparation for such a study, efforts will be made to take over some initiatives previously carried out in this field, the issue is treated from the historical perspective: before and today. At the same time, it is very important to show that terms such as Christianity and Islam, seen from the point of view of their proponents, are used in connection with the process of turning religion into a problem. The process of turning Christianity into a problem is named by historians and sociologists as the process of secularization, which is described as removing temporal (material) religions from their ruling domains to make them independent and humanitarian. Finally, turning religion into a problem and secularization are two separate expressions of the same phenomenon. If there is secularization anywhere, religion has become a problem; if somewhere religion has become a problem, this is a sign of secularism. Meanwhile, in the Islamic world, secularism was previously carried out by a process that preceded secularism, thus turning Islam into a problem. The name of this problem is colonialism. Expressed differently, in the Islamic world, both secularization and the transformation of Islam into a subordinate problem because of secularism are the results of colonialism. The spread and expansion of secularism in the Islamic world came about as a natural result of the spread and expansion of colonialism. Among its historical conditions, the classical period, even though it is a specificity that at first glance does not seem very important - when compared to the colonial conditions that have to differentiate specifics of our subject, the importance comes to the fore clearly - is the fact that political authority has been in the hands of Muslims and that, therefore, social organization has been realized in its authentic terms. Therefore, two specifics, historical conditions and human nature have been, firstly, the tool and secondly, as an external visual form of being, and all issues and solutions to situations have been realized in such authentic conditions. At this point, Islam, and Christianity, stripping themselves of traditions, were oriented to recall purely and, in this context, a new attitude began to develop, such as the understanding and reinterpretation of the fundamental religious texts, about which these beliefs were discussed. In this study, we are dealing with an innovation regarding the meaning and interpretation of religious texts, indirectly expressed by differentiating religion from believers. There is one thing that cannot be discussed, it is the process of turning religion into a problem and religious problems from each other. Furthermore, in this study, we will be careful not to openly criticize one of the descriptive and comparative methods used by world historiography. On the one hand, the methods are directly related to their issues, in a sense, the issues predetermine the way of handling them. From this point of view, criticizing the method without criticizing the issue would be unfair. On the other hand, there is no need for a critic with an understanding of the method treated within the connection with its issues, related to its application in another important issue from it. To sum up, the criticism is present within the description of the treated method related to the particularities of the case. In my opinion, the sufficient expression of an idea makes a separate criticism unnecessary since it also carries its criticism, from the point of view of emphasizing the changes in a world that is becoming more and more globalized. Received: 25 December 2023 / Accepted: 25 February 2024 / Published: 23 April 2024

Влияние философии Просвещения на динамику секуляризации русской культуры в XVIII в.

The article scrutinizes the problem of the influence of Enlightenment philosophy on the dynamics of secularization of Russian culture in the XVIII century. The necessity of analyzing the selected time period is substantiated in view of the renaissance of Orthodox culture in modern Russia. The work defines the fundamental difference between Orthodox culture and secular (secular-minded) culture, presents the main philosophical ideas disseminated in the Russian state in the XVIII century, identifies and characterizes the factors associated with the influence of Enlightenment philosophy on the isolation of church consciousness during the reign of Peter the Great, Empress Elizabeth and Catherine II. It is revealed that the dissemination of the ideas of Enlightenment philosophers, contributing to the development of secularization processes in Russian culture, in the XVIII century had a progressive character, being closely related to the person who stood at the head of the state. Based on the results obtained it is established that the quantitative-qualitative gap caused by the influence of Enlightenment philosophy occurred in Russian culture during the reign of Catherine II.

Discovering the Child? Individualization Processes of Catholic Religious Education in the Horizon of Secularization since 1900

At the beginning of the 20th century, early processes of secularization – especially in working-class families living in large cities – and inadequate teaching methods led to a crisis of Catholic religious education. Teachers and professors highlighted that it was becoming more and more difficult for reli­gious education to reach students and to ensure that they become devoted members of the Church. In this situation, a catechetical movement was established, which was mainly situated in Munich and Vienna, where teachers, catechists, and academics discussed reforms of the commonly used teaching methods in religious education. Conferences and the foundation of journals followed. It is at least from this point that the process of modernization in the field of religious education in the German-speaking context begins. This modernization gained traction after the Second Vatican Council and was also pro­moted by the phenomenon of secularization and pluralization after the 1960s. Against this background, the essay will address the following questions: What led to the modernization of religious education that began around 1900? What role was played by the new openness of catechists and theologians for edu­cation science and the (religious) pluralization of society? To answer this question, the article will focus on developments between 1900 and the 1920s, during the 1970s, and the more or less topical discus­sion about the concept of ‘theology of children’ since the late 1990s. This study will also ask whether this development can be described as the discovery of the child in theology and religious education. Finally, this paper asks what consequences this development has for a denominational religious education in state schools today and in the future.

(Re)vision of Religious Education of Children and Youth in Secularized Polish Society

Rapidly progressing multifaceted secularization processes in Polish society strongly influence the shape of religious education of children and adolescents in the school environment. They determine a number of dimensions of the social and mental activity of young people. Their effects are visible, es­pecially in the attitudes of children and youth to God, the Church, religious lessons, moral norms, and religious practices. This situation raises new challenges for the religious education of the young. Reading this as a “sign of the times,” this article revises religious education in Polish schools. The need to reor­ganize the model of religious education lessons and to introduce changes in the curricular assumptions of religious education teaching, in student textbooks and methodological guides is pointed out. Pre-evangelization and educational activities, resignation from the mere transfer of religious knowledge, and the development of preconceived skills and attitudes are considered important. The author emphasizes the value of providing opportunities for the construction of knowledge and for the student’s own en­gagement during religious education lessons. In this context, much attention is paid to the role of the re­ligious education teacher, who is to be first and foremost a companion on a journey, an educator and a witness of faith, open to new challenges, able to communicate effectively with students, creative, and tolerant. The right personality traits of the religious education teacher and their multiple competencies (including communicative and interpersonal ones) play a key role in religious education. They guarantee the effectiveness of communication within a group of religious lesson participants. They foster authentic interpersonal relationships and community-building, thus meeting the natural needs of young people. In practice, they require a paradigm shift in the formation of religious education teachers.