Secularization in a Context of Advanced Modernity

Abstract

In Europe, the general trend of secula¡ continues, h is attested by the loss of authority of the Catholic church on the societal level and in societal subsystems. This trend is confirmed by the decline of personal religiosity (beliefs, church practice, and moral attitudes). However, the situation is more complex than that: some paradoxes should be stressed. Not infrequently reli~ous authorities ate considerecl to be experts on ethical matters and are requested by civil authorities to ~ve advice; popular religious practices are re-legitimized; at different territorial levels, Catholicism --and to a lesser extent other Christian religions --is invoked to affirm the specific identity of a city, a repon, and even of Europe. The courts Tu:~v-a-days sometimes take into account religious identities and their particularistic exigences and characteristics. Consequently, religious institutions --and most specifically the Catholic church --appear to be a resource used on the levels of the society, subsystems, and the individual. However, its impact is subi.ect to the fact that its specific religious character ~ to wit its doctrine and specific moral standards ~ is watered down. This in itself may be considered a consequence of secularization.As described by Dobbelaere ( 1981), secularization-considered asa process on the macro-level --is in general still an unquestionable fact in Europe. Functional differentiation is persisting; the organized world is based on impersonal roles and on contractual patterns. The privatization of religion signifies not only that institutional religion loses its capacity to exercise an impact on public affairs but also that religion is considered asa matter of personal choice. This choice is enlarged by the numerous opportunities which have appeared in the "religious market" and, among other things, by the development of New Religious Movements. Such a context stimulates the relativization of religious messages, and their acceptance appears to be more and more oriented to a "this worldly" end, to the immanent level of everyday reality.However, at the same time that unbelief is growing and the numbers of the unchurched are increasing (Jagodzinski and Dobbelaere 1995b; Dobbelaere and Jagodzinski 1995), different facts testify that religion is not absent from the scene. Considering Europe, we can see that many individuals seem to set up some kind of "religious patchwork," using various existing resources which they compose according to their own needs, views, and experiences (Voy› 1995). At

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State-Level Restriction of Religious Freedom and Women’s Rights: A Global Analysis

“…While it is sometimes suggested that some level of secularization in a country is needed in order for there to be respect for human rights (Voye, 1999), this article does not argue that religiosity in and of itself is an inherent obstacle to democracy in general or to human rights more specifically. Religiosity is often translated into political virtue, philanthropy and ethical conduct (Brooks, 2003), and has been found to have a complex effect on support for democracy and tolerance (Ben-Nun Ben-Nun Bloom et al 2015).…”

Is Ethnoreligious Conflict a Contagious Disease?

“…These results from the empirical literature are consistent with the comparative literature that has linked religious factors to a wide range of conflict types and other political phenomena including legitimacy (Lewy, 1974, 550-551;Johnston and Figa, 1988, 32-34), people's world views (Geertz, 1973;Greely, 1982;Juergensmeyer, 1993), terrorism (Hoffman, 1995, Rapoport, 1984, 1988, genocide (Fein, 1990, 49), ethnic cleansing (Osiander, 2000, 785), conflict management (Appleby, 2000;Gopin, 2000;Abu-Nimer, 2001), identity (Seul, 1999, 558;Voye, 1999), nationalism (Smith, 1999(Smith, , 2000, the formation of the modern Westphalian state system (Philpott, 2000), international diplomacy (Johnston and Sampson, 1994), democracy (Oommen, 1994;and Fox, 1998, 58-59) (Hardacre, 1993), environmentalism (Taylor, 1998), perceptions of the nature of human rights ( Van der Vyver, 1996), public school policy (Wayland, 1997), and economics (Kuran, 1991;Rosser, 1993). Studies based on survey data have also linked religion to political behavior and attitudes.…”