Ghosts of Sing Sing, or the Metaphysics of Secularism

My evangelical conviction

“…The phrase 'to do what they do' is a telling use of language for it suggests a continuity that I have addressed elsewhere -a sense of true religion being bound up with a particular style of reasoning and sense of cognitive freedom but more importantly, a kind of human that is naturally disposed to pursue such reason and feel such freedom (Modern 2011). Consequently, I have argued that the problem with the field of American religious history is that it has largely failed to question religion and its attendant categories in a sustained manner, so much so that a particular kind of human is assumed to be at the center of any narrative about religion, a secular subject who must take a stand vis-à-vis religion, who chooses, with the capacity of free will, to believe in their belief, unbelief, or even their indifference.…”

“…In 2008 I conducted an analytical experiment (Modern 2008). I attempted to restrain myself from using religion or the religious as sui generis analytical terms.…”

“…The discursive formation of secularism is also constituted by new forms of economic exchange, speculation, production, and consumption; new forms of governance and statecraft; new technologies and technics of media; new conceptions of personhood and human rights; and finally, new ideals of epistemic virtue. There is, of course, a Foucauldian lineage to the relatively recent and ongoing recognition of secularism as a disciplinary structure that is, first and foremost, invested in its own evolutionary progression and naturalization (Anidjar 2006;Asad 2003;Connolly 1999;Fessenden 2007;Modern 2007).…”