RELIGION, FAITH and Secularization Reactions to Modernity

We will consider a variety of issues: –Modernity –Faith –Religion –Secularization –Fundamentalism –Religion and secularization in Western Europe and the USA

MODERNITY in the West (1)A result of Renaissance and Enlightenment (2)We use REASON to explain reality (3)An historical-cultural event: an ethos that replaced the religious-based world view and cognitive methods of the Middle Ages

Modernity is characterized by: 1.The empirical-scientific method 2.The complex of industrialized nation- states with their non-monarchical governments 3.Freedom of religious expression and religious pluralism.

Modernity and Religion The institutions and the basic ideas of modernity proceed without legitimation by a religion. Before modernity, monarchy, class hierarchies, jurisprudence, cosmology, and education were very much under religious control and justification.

FAITH Any faith is a personal and group experience of the metaphysical reality described in various ways as: the Sacred, the Divine, the Transcendent, God, Allah, etc. etc. Faith is NOT Religion

Examples of the FAITH experience: Dag Hammarskjold, in Markings: "Somewhere along the line, I said 'yes' to Someone or Something -- and that has made the difference......we die on the day when our lives cease to be illumined by the steady radiance, renewed daily, of a wonder, the source of which is beyond all reason." Specifically FAITH experience has been variously identified in the following ways: (1) the awareness of the holy, which evokes awe and reverence (2) the sense of being at one with the divine, linked with “ground of being” (3) the encounter with a reality “wholly other” (4) the sense of a transforming power as a presence.

Faith involves a stance toward some claim that is not, at least presently, demonstrable by reason. Faith is a kind of attitude of trust or assent. As such, it is ordinarily understood to involve an act of will or a commitment on the part of the believer. Faith involves a belief that makes some kind of either implicit or explicit reference to a transcendent source.

RELIGION A religion is an INTERPRETATION of the Faith Experience –INTERPRETATION expressed in an authoritative tradition (oral or written texts) sacred places, symbols, rituals and an authoritative leadership (apostles, priests, bishops, shamans, imams, rabbis, lamas, and scholar-monks). RELIGION IS NOT FAITH

SECULARIZATION Sociologist Peter Berger’s definition: “By secularization we mean the process by which sectors of society and cultures are removed from the domination of religious institutions and symbols.” Secularization is a natural development from modernity.

Not the end of religion…… Secularization does not mean the END of religion It does challenge religions and their place in society. Secularization is simply a fact of life..... How we react to it is the important issue

I think Obama, for example, understands this very well..... “Call to Renewal” address in May 2006: “Democracy demands that the religiously motivated translate their concerns into universal, rather than religion-specific, values. Democracy requires that their proposals be subject to argument, and amenable to reason. I may be opposed to abortion for religious reasons, but if I seek to pass a law banning the practice, I cannot simply point to the teachings of my church or evoke God's will. I have to explain why abortion violates some principle that is accessible to people of all faiths, including those with no faith at all...”

Possible Responses to Modernity TOTAL rejection of all religion = SECULARISM A religion grows in self understanding and adapts to the perspective of modernity (RCC Vatican II) The religion rejects some of modernity and lives in two worlds (e.g. Amish) The religion rejects all of modernity as evil (Benedict XVI ??) The religion closes in on self and becomes self- worshiping: Fundamentalism

FUNDAMENTALISM Fundamentalism arises when a religious group fears cultural change – and resorts to a form of socio-cultural isolation that leads to a distortion of their own religious understanding. Fundamentalists, fearful about change in the larger culture, revert to a static view of their religious tradition and confuse the interpretation (RELIGION) with that which is interpreted (FAITH).

All fundamentalists follow certain patterns: 1.Religious ideology is the basis for their personal and communal identity. 2.They insist upon one statement of truth that is inerrant, revealed and unchangeable 3.They see themselves as part of a cosmic struggle between good and evil. 4.They seize on historical moments and reinterpret them in the light of this cosmic struggle.

5. They demonize their opposition. 6. They are selective in what parts of the religious tradition and heritage they will stress. 7. They despise modern culture. 8. They are MILITANT

Fundamentalist groups are often driven to violent social action when their “orthodox” goals are frustrated by the events of changing social and political environments in the broader society. They see the world in terms of black and white. People are clearly enemies or friends. Actions are good or bad. All fundamentalist movements invariably create a dual myth: the myth links a supposed Golden Age in the past with a Utopian future. Fundamentalist groups have a dysfunctional relationship with the rest of the world. Working constructively – healing the dysfunction -- can be a long and arduous process.

Religion and Secularization in Europe and the USA 1.The United States is a country with “the soul of a church.” 2.Religion in the USA is the social glue that holds the country together. 3.Traditional religions sustain and support AMERICAN CIVIL RELIGION

America is built on a strong sense of American CIVIL RELIGION Sacred Documents = Constitution and Declaration of Independence Sacred People = Saints George Washington and Abraham Lincoln Sacred Places = Lincoln Memorial, Arlington National Cemetery where the “martyrs” are buried, Washington Monument, etc; Holy Days = the Fourth of July, Memorial Day, Thanksgiving, Holy objects = the American flag, the dollar bill Americans have turned their country (the land, its history and its heroes) into the objects of religious devotion.

A number of sociologists (and religious people!) continually point to lower levels of religious participation in Western Europe and assert that Western Europe is more secularized than the United States. I am not in agreement and would agree with other sociologists (like Grace Davie, Michael Winter and Christopher Short) that: (1) The United States in fact is just as secularized (2) Many Western Europeans are unchurched because institutionalized religion has not come to terms with modernity (3) Many Americans have not sufficiently reflected on religion and modernity. Nor come to understand the ENLIGHTENMENT! Something for our discussion

Saint George Washington