The theory of secularization has long been at the forefront of the philosophical discourse of the 20th century. The secular perception of social processes could not help but influence their dynamics, ...the decisions made by people at different levels of social life. What is allowed for a person in the world where religions no longer form the basis of social behavior and the centuries-old foundations of social life are considered canceled? The author seeks to analyze previous attempts to comprehend the problem of violence in modern culture through philosophical theories, which regard radical secularization as one of the key characteristics of modernity. At the same time, the author refers, among other things, to the study of various approaches to the problem of moral relativism, including the perspectives of theistic and atheistic philosophy: on the one hand, represented by Radical Orthodoxy of John Milbank and Alasdair McIntyre; on the other hand, postmodernism (Gilles Deleuze and Jean Baudrillard), post-structuralism (Judith Butler), and Freudo-Marxism (Slavoj Zizek). All the above-mentioned philosophers associate radical secularism with the escalation of violence in society. The study identifies the meeting point of perspectives on the problem of violence in secular society: the absence of collectively shared values rooted in the discursive tradition inevitably generates and maintains moral relativism, the prevalence of which is generally proportional to the growth in the level of violence, including latent violence. The article suggests ways to mitigate the risks of secularization and moral relativism and puts forwards an argument for the importance of tradition and community in shaping moral values. The author also emphasizes the importance of considering the role of religion, particularly Christianity, in addressing this issue.
African scholars have claimed that African peoples are “notoriously religious”. Is this still the case? Empirical literature on the subject is meagre. Therefore, the objective of this study was to ...examine the antecedents, triggers and response of secularisation and spirituality among lapsed-Christian young adults in Nairobi, Kenya, the participants were aged between 18 and 35, who were baptised but have abandoned Christian faith in favour of secularisation or non-affiliated spirituality. Qualitative data, from semi-structured in-depth interviews among the 14 participants, sampled through a snowball process, was recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analysed by the two authors. Eleven emerging themes were identified from 10 h of data. The first two themes suggest that mixed faith backgrounds of parents and discordant relationship within the family act as antecedents in adopting a secular perspective. The next two themes relate to the role of Christianity itself in terms of lack of faith formation and exaggeration of religiosity. The fifth and sixth themes revolve around trauma in Africa/Kenya, historical and contemporary. There were two themes pertaining to ill-treatment meted out by Christianity. The rest of the themes relate to how these individuals maintain meaning, value and spiritual systems. The findings are likely to generate an evidence-based discussion among religious leaders in Africa/Kenya.
The study of electoral disputes and the transformation of power structures has been notably lacking in the historiography of republican universities during the first half of the 19th century. This ...article delves into the experiences of faculty members elected through the vote, which played a significant role in reshaping leadership and expanding intellectual culture at Universidad del Magdalena e Istmo between 1827 and 1840. During this period, somewhat uniquely, enlightened republicans established universities at the departmental (provincial) level in what is now the Republic of Colombia. However, there has been limited examination of the trajectories and selection processes of the educated elite from the standpoint of intellectual history. This article argues that the use of the electoral mechanism, in addition to determining representativeness and the rise of representative government in universities, was a pivotal factor in the affirmation of an education and a secular power. This, on one hand, eroded the clerical influence in higher education and, on the other, displaced ecclesiastics from positions of authority. The advent of the university within the framework of representative democracy also led to the emergence of other types of intellectuals, linked to humanistic knowledge, medicine, and even military education in the navy. Methodologically, the goal is to explore the political journeys of these intellectuals who managed to enter the university in the context of electoral disputes that reshaped academic leadership roles.
Enlightenment and Religion João de Azevedo e Dias Duarte
História da Historiografia,
04/2020, Letnik:
13, Številka:
32
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
This article, through a review of a portion of the relevant literature, problematizes the way in which the connection between the Enlightenment and religion has traditionally been explained, ...principally by a historiography excessively focused on the 18th century French experience. Alternatively, this article argues that “continuity,” rather than “rupture,” more adequately describes this relationship. However, continuity, as understood here, excludes neither tension nor transformation. If, on the one hand, the Enlightenment is much more akin to religion than has been previously recognized, on the other hand, it has to a great extent shaped modern understanding of religion. This revision of the relationship between the Enlightenment and religion suggests the need to rethink the very identity of the Enlightenment and the issue of secularization. The article uses as a guide the German debate surrounding the question, “What is the Enlightenment?” It concludes with an analysis of Kant’s famous contribution to this debate.
Is Secularism a World Religion? Cotter, Christopher R.; Schaefer, Donovan O.
Implicit religion,
12/2019, Letnik:
22, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Podcast with Donovan Schaefer, 28 November 2016
Interviewed by Christopher R. Cotter
Transcribed by Catrin J. Sawford
Audio and transcript available at: https://religiousstudiesproject.com/
...podcast/is-secularism-a-world-religion/
Después de casi sesenta años, la teología de las realidades terrenas contenida en la primera parte de Gaudium et spes sigue siendo una prometedora fuente de reflexión. Como perspectiva que sintetiza ...la relación entre Dios y el mundo, recuerda al hombre su identidad misionera y el mandato de transformar el mundo. Sin embargo, el interés por esta perspectiva parece haber disminuido pocos años después del Concilio. Este ensayo examina el contenido de esta teología, busca destacar las posibles razones que han obstaculizado su desarrollo e identifica las condiciones para su recuperación.
This article delves into the pressing challenges confronting liberal democracies in Western Europe as they grapple with managing religious diversity, with a specific focus on Muslim minorities. ...Historically, the secularization paradigm has been at the forefront of managing such diversity; however, its intrinsic limitations become increasingly evident in the context of super-diversity, underscoring the need for a paradigmatic shift toward post-secularization. Central to this discourse are the nuanced concepts of “culturalization of religion” and “religionization of culture”, which illuminate the disparities in treatment between majority and minority religious groups. The article identifies three endogenous limitations intrinsic to liberal democracies: the contested nature of state neutrality vis-à-vis religion and belief, the implementation of this principle through non-neutral judicial tools, and the historically and culturally laden context within which the principle of neutrality is enacted. Drawing on the seminal contributions of Jürgen Habermas to post-secularization theory, the article posits that fostering genuine inclusivity and pluralism in managing religious diversity necessitates a departure from the rigid division between the religious and the secular. Instead, it calls for an acknowledgment of the dialogical relationship between the religious and secular dimensions as they manifest in the public sphere by religious minorities.
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