Invisible Religion in a “Non-believing” Country: The Case of the Czech Republic

Abstract

The authors analyse contemporary ir/religiosity and spirituality in the Czech Republic using data from national censuses, international surveys and a specialized national survey on the de-traditionalization and individualization of religion from 2006. The authors conclude that the influence of socio-demographic characteristics on a respondent's religiosity, both traditional and alternative, is weak; a more important factor in the determination of a person's world-view was found to be his/her religious socialization or the absence thereof. The effectiveness of religious socialization differs significantly between the various churches; the least effective being the Catholic Church and Czechoslovak Hussite Church. For historical reasons, attitudes towards Catholicism also influence the Czech mindset on religion in general. The out-of-church movement became established very early in the country's history and was subsequently strengthened by Communist anticlericalism resulting in today's prevalence of "non-believers", the highest proportion in Europe. Key words: anti-religious memory · atheism · Czech Republic · post-communist religion · religiosity and spirituality Les auteurs analysent l'(ir)religiosité et la spiritualité contemporaines en République tchèque, en utilisant des données issues de recensements nationaux, d'enquêtes internationales et d'une enquête nationale spécialisée portant sur la "dé-traditionalisation" et l'individualisation de la religion à partir de 2006. Les auteurs concluent que l'influence de caractéristiques sociodémographiques sur la religiosité, autant traditionnelle qu'alternative, du répondant est faible. Un facteur plus important dans la détermination de la vision du monde d'un individu a été situé dans sa socialisation religieuse ou dans l'absence de celle-ci. L'efficacité de la socialisation religieuse diffère de façon significative entre les différentes Églises, les moins efficaces étant l'Église catholique et l'Église hussite tchécoslovaque. Pour différentes raisons historiques, les attitudes à l'égard du catholicisme influencent également la perception tchèque de la religion en général. Le mouvement de sortie de la religion s'est très précocement développé dans l'histoire du pays et a ultérieurement été renforcé par l'anticléricalisme communiste, qui aboutit à la prédominance actuelle des non-croyants, dont la proportion est la plus élevée d'Europe. Mots-clés: athéisme · mémoire anti-religieuse · religion post-communiste · religiosité et spiritualité · République tchèque at NANYANG TECH UNIV LIBRARY on August 27, 2015 scp.sagepub.com Downloaded from

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