This study aims to explore whether secular nationalism can be considered as a type of religion. In the first section, the term “religious nationalism” is perceived as nationalism that generally ...demonstrates characteristics commonly associated with religion. In the second section, definitions of nationalism and religion are explained respectively. This study then draws parallels between the two, depicting religion as a good “metaphor” for nationalism, thereby describing basic concepts of religious nationalism with reference to some policies in Revolutionary France in 1790 as an instance. In section three, more specific overlapping characteristics possessed by both nationalism and religion are elaborated in which this study not only analyses similarities between the hierarchical structure of the government and the Church, but also compares the devotion of the “state” maintained by citizens to worship of “God” maintained by believers. Drawing inspiration by a variety of scholars ranging from Carlton Hayes to Friedrich Nietzsche, this study eventually reaches a conclusion that, despite variations in the intensity of national sentiments across different countries, secular nationalism is undoubtedly a type of religion supported by these similar characteristics described above.
In 2002 the Islamist Justice and Development Party (AKP) swept to power in Turkey. Since then it has shied away from a hard-line ideological stance in favour of a more conservative and democratic ...approach. In this book, M. Hakan Yavuz negotiates this ambivalence asking whether it is possible for a political party with a deeply religious ideology to liberalise and entertain democracy or whether, as he contends, radical religious groups moderate their practices and ideologies when forced to negotiate a competitive and rule-based political system. The author explores the thesis through an analysis of the rise and evolution of the AKP and its more recent 2007 election victory. The book, which tackles a number of important issues including political participation, economics and internal security, provides a masterful survey of modern Turkish and Islamic politics, which will be of interest to a broad range of readers from students to professionals and policymakers.
Can Islamic societies embrace democracy? In Democracy in Modern Iran, Ali Mirsepassi maintains that it is possible, demonstrating that Islam is not inherently hostile to the idea of democracy. ...Rather, he provides new perspective on how such a political and social transformation could take place, arguing that the key to understanding the integration of Islam and democracy lies in concrete social institutions rather than pre-conceived ideas, the every day experiences rather than abstract theories. Mirsepassi, an Iranian native, provides a rare inside look into the country, offering a deep understanding of how Islamic countries like Iran and Iraq can and will embrace democracy.Democracy in Modern Iran challenges readers to think about Islam and democracy critically and in a far more nuanced way than is done in black-and-white dichotomies of Islam vs. Democracy, or Iran vs. the West. This essential volume contributes important insights to current discussions, creating a more complex conception of modernity in the Eastern world and, with it, Mirsepassi offers to a broad Western audience a more accurate, less cliched vision of Iran's political reality.
This paper argues that the national populisms of Northern and Western Europe form a distinctive cluster within the wider north Atlantic and pan-European populist conjuncture. They are distinctive in ...construing the opposition between self and other not in narrowly national but in broader civilizational terms. This partial shift from nationalism to "civilizationism" has been driven by the notion of a civilizational threat from Islam. This has given rise to an identitarian "Christianism", a secularist posture, a philosemitic stance, and an ostensibly liberal defence of gender equality, gay rights, and freedom of speech. The paper highlights the distinctiveness of this configuration by briefly comparing the national populisms of Northern and Western Europe to the Trump campaign and to the national populisms of East Central Europe. It concludes by specifying two ways in which the joining of identitarian Christianism with secularist and liberal rhetoric challenges prevailing understandings of European national populism.
Philosophy is an eternal topic of human development, and it is also the basic promoter of the inheritance and development of traditional culture. Since ancient times, there have been many differences ...in concepts and mechanisms between Chinese and Western philosophies. Moral ethics, natural health preservation, and the golden mean are the main manifestations of Chinese philosophical concepts. This is also the main feature of Chinese traditional culture, which shows strong secularism as a whole. Western philosophy is mainly characterized by the origin of elements, metaphysics, and unity of will and spirit, which also makes most Western cultures surpass the present world. At present, my country is at a critical stage of national rejuvenation. The inheritance and development of Chinese traditional culture have become the only task for national rejuvenation, and it is also the main means for Chinese excellent traditional culture to go abroad and enhance China’s soft power. In this regard, to promote the inheritance and development of Chinese traditional culture, based on the comparative perspective of Chinese and foreign philosophy, this paper analyzes the secularism of Chinese traditional culture and proposes the secular development and future succession of Chinese traditional culture.
