Religious and Political Threats to the State in the Western Political Science and Philosophy

Abstract

This article is devoted to an attempt to analyze religious threats, which the authors believe is not sufficiently developed in studies on religious security. The analysis was carried out within the framework of the methodology of the socio-philosophical approach, which rejects the version of the metaphysical religious threat from religious organizations. This analysis was carried out by the authors based on the theoretical principles of the theory of the social evolution of religion M. Weber, T. Parsons, theory of religious conflict K. Marx, R. Darendorf and theory of social adaptation of religion J. Richardson, B. R. Wilson. The results of the analysis showed that in the second half of the twentieth century the comprehension of religious threats took place within the confessional, legal, and psychological discourses based on the metaphysical opposition of “yours” and “aliens” (F. Conway, J. Siglman, R. D. Lifton, M. Singer, T. Patrick, J. MacDowell, W. Martin). The general direction of criticism of these discourses was the indication that the illegal actions of extremist organizations are usually determined by their political and economic goals, and not by the content of religious texts, which led to the requirement to distinguish between violent actions and the content of religious doctrines. Therefore, as the authors show, modern analysts, including E. Barker, J. Melton, J. Richardson, R. stark, and M. Introvigne, prove that the challenge and conflict between religious associations can not only be considered as a reflection of threats caused by religions, but also as a manifestation of competition within the confessional space. At the same time, the fears of threats spread in the course of this struggle are very important for the social practice of religions seeking to improve social policy