Contemporary characterizations
The
term secular religion is often applied today to communal belief
systems—as for example with the view of love as our postmodern secular
religion. Paul Vitz applied the term to modern psychology in as much as it fosters a cult of the self, explicitly calling "the self-theory ethic [...] this secular religion". Sport has also been considered as a new secular religion, particularly with respect to Olympism. For Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympic Games, belief in them as a new secular religion was explicit and lifelong.
Political religion
The theory of political religion concerns governmental ideologies whose cultural and political backing is so strong that they are said to attain power equivalent to those of a state religion, with which they often exhibit significant similarities in both theory and practice.
In addition to basic forms of politics, like parliament and elections,
it also holds an aspect of "sacralization" related to the institutions
contained within the regime and also provides the inner measures
traditionally considered to be religious territory, such as ethics, values, symbols, myths, rituals, archetypes and for example a national liturgical calendar.
Political religious organizations, such as the Nazi Party,
adhered to the idealization of cultural and political power over the
country at large. The church body of the state no longer held control
over the practices of religious identity. Because of this, Nazism was
countered by many political and religious organizations as being a
political religion, based on the dominance which the Nazi regime had
(Gates and Steane).
Political religions generally vie with existing traditional religions,
and may try to replace or eradicate them. The term was given new
attention by the political scientist Hans Maier.
Totalitarian societies are perhaps more prone to political religion, but various scholars have described features of political religion even in democracies, for instance American civil religion as described by Robert Bellah in 1967.
The term is sometimes treated as synonymous with civil religion,
but although some scholars use the terms equivalently, others see a
useful distinction, using "civil religion" as something weaker, which
functions more as a socially unifying and essentially conservative
force, whereas a political religion is radically transformational, even apocalyptic.
Overview
The term political religion
is based on the observation that sometimes political ideologies or
political systems display features more commonly associated with religion. Scholars who have studied these phenomena include William Connolly in political science, Christoph Deutschmann in sociology, Emilio Gentile in history, Oliver O'Donovan in theology and others in psychology.
A political religion often occupies the same ethical, psychological and
sociological space as a traditional religion, and as a result it often
displaces or co-opts existing religious organizations and beliefs. The
most central marker of a political religion involves the sacralization of politics, for example an overwhelming religious feeling when serving one's country, or the devotion towards the Founding Fathers of the United States. Although a political religion may co-opt existing religious structures or symbolism, it does not itself have any independent spiritual or theocratic
elements—it is essentially secular, using religious motifs and methods
for political purposes, if it does not reject religious faith outright. Typically, a political religion is considered to be secular, but more radical forms of it are also transcendental.
Origin of the theory
The 18th-century philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau
(1712–1778) argued that all societies need a religion to hold men
together. Because Christianity tended to pull men away from earthly
matters, Rousseau advocated a "civil religion" that would create the
links necessary for political unity around the state. The Swiss
Protestant theologian Adolf Keller (1872–1963) argued that Marxism in the Soviet Union had been transformed into a secular religion. Before emigrating to the United States, the German-born political philosopher Eric Voegelin wrote a book entitled The political religions.
Other contributions on "political religion" (or associated terms such
as "secular religion", "lay religion" or "public religion") were made by
Luigi Sturzo (1871–1959), Paul Tillich (1886–1965), Gerhard Leibholz (1901–1982), Waldemar Gurian (1902–1954), Raymond Aron (1905–1983) and Walter Benjamin (1892–1940). Some saw such "religions" as a response to the existential void and nihilism caused by modernity, mass society
and the rise of a bureaucratic state, and in political religions "the
rebellion against the religion of God" reached its climax. They
also described them as "pseudo-religions", "substitute religions",
"surrogate religions", "religions manipulated by man" and
"anti-religions". Yale political scientist Juan Linz
and others have noted that the secularization of the twentieth century
had created a void which could be filled by an ideology claiming a hold
on ethical and identical matters as well, making the political religions
based on totalitarianism, universalism and messianic missions (such as Manifest Destiny) possible.
An academic journal with the name Totalitarian Movements and Political Religions started publication in 2000. It was renamed Politics, Religion & Ideology in 2011. It is published by Taylor & Francis.
Typical aspects
Key qualities often (not all are always present) shared by political religion include:
- Structural
- Differentiation between self and other, and demonization of other (in theistic religion, the differentiation usually depends on adherence to certain dogmas and social behaviors; in political religion, differentiation may be on grounds such as nationality, social attitudes, or membership in "enemy" political parties, instead).
- A transcendent leadership, either with messianic tendencies, often a charismatic figurehead.
- Strong, hierarchical organizational structures.
- The control of education, in order to ensure the security, continuation and the veneration of the existing system.
- Belief
- A coherent belief system for imposing symbolic meaning on the external world, with an emphasis on security through faith in the system.
- An intolerance of other ideologies of the same type.
- A degree of utopianism.
- The belief that the ideology is in some way natural or obvious, so that (at least for certain groups of people) those who reject it are in some way "blind".
- A genuine desire on the part of individuals to convert others to the cause.
- A willingness to place ends over means—in particular, a willingness (for some) to use violence or/and fraud.
- Fatalism—a belief that the ideology will inevitably triumph in the end.
Not all of these aspects are present in any one political religion; this is only a list of some common aspects.
Suppression of religious beliefs
Political religions compete with existing religions, and try, if possible, to replace or eradicate them.
Loyalty to other entities, such as a church or a deity are often
viewed as interfering with loyalty to the political religion. The
authority of potential religious leaders also presents a threat to the
authority of the political religion. As a result, some or all religious
sects may be suppressed or banned. An existing sect may be converted
into a state religion,
but dogma and personnel may be modified to suit the needs of the party
or state. Where there is suppression of religious institutions and
beliefs, this might be explicitly accompanied by atheistic doctrine as in state atheism.
Juan Linz has posited the friendly form of separation of church and state
as the opposite pole of political religion but describes the hostile form
of separation of church and state as moving toward political religion
as found in totalitarianism.
Absolute loyalty
Loyalty
to the state or political party and acceptance of the government/party
ideology are paramount. Dissenters may be expelled, ostracized,
discriminated against, imprisoned, "re-educated", or killed. Loyalty oaths
or membership in a dominant (or sole) political party may be required
for employment, government services, or simply as routine. Criticism of
the government may be a serious crime. Enforcements range from
ostracism by one's neighbors to execution. In a fundamental political
religion you are either with the system or against it.
Cult of personality
A political religion often elevates its leaders to near-godlike
status. Displays of leaders in the form of posters or statues may be
mandated in public areas and even private homes. Children may be
required to learn the state's version of the leaders' biographies in
school.
Myths of origin
Political religions often rely on a myth of origin
that may have some historical basis but is usually idealized and
sacralized. Current leaders may be venerated as descendants of the
original fathers. There may also be holy places or shrines that relate
to the myth of origin.
Historical cases
Revolutionary France
The Festival of the Supreme Being,
by Pierre-Antoine Demachy.
by Pierre-Antoine Demachy.
Revolutionary France was well noted for being the first state to reject religion altogether. Radicals intended to replace Christianity with a new state religion, or an atheistic ideology. Maximilien Robespierre rejected atheistic ideologies and intended to create a new religion. Churches were closed, and Catholic Mass was forbidden. The Cult of the Supreme Being was well known for its derided festival, which led to the Thermidorian reaction and the fall of Robespierre.
Fascism
Italian fascism
According to Emilio Gentile, "Fascism was the first and prime instance of a modern political religion."
"This religion sacralized the state and assigned it the primary
educational task of transforming the mentality, the character, and the
customs of Italians. The aim was to create a 'new man', a believer in and an observing member of the cult of Fascism."
"The argument [that fascism was a ‘political religion’] tends to
involve three main claims: I) that fascism was characterized by a
religious form, particularly in terms of language and ritual; II) that
fascism was a sacralized form of totalitarianism, which legitimized
violence in defense of the nation and regeneration of a fascist 'new
man'; and III) that fascism took on many of the functions of religion
for a broad swathe of society."
Nazi Germany
"Among committed [Nazi] believers, a mythic world of eternally strong
heroes, demons, fire and sword—in a word, the fantasy world of the
nursery—displaced reality." Heinrich Himmler was fascinated by the occult, and sought to turn the SS into the basis of an official state cult.
Soviet Union
In 1936 a Protestant priest referred explicitly to communism as a new secular religion. A couple of years later, on the eve of World War II, F. A. Voigt characterized both Marxism and National Socialism as secular religions, akin at a fundamental level in their authoritarianism and messianic beliefs as well as in their eschatological view of human History. Both, he considered, were waging religious war against the liberal enquiring mind of the European heritage.
After the war, the social philosopher Raymond Aron would expand on the exploration of communism in terms of a secular religion; while A. J. P. Taylor, for example, would characterize it as "a great secular religion....the Communist Manifesto must be counted as a holy book in the same class as the Bible".
Klaus-Georg Riegel argued that "Lenin's utopian design of a
revolutionary community of virtuosi as a typical political religion of
an intelligentsia longing for an inner-worldly salvation, a socialist
paradise without exploitation and alienation, to be implanted in the
Russian backward society at the outskirts of the industrialized and
modernized Western Europe."
Modern examples
North Korea
The North Korean government has promulgated Juche
as a political alternative to traditional religion. The doctrine
advocates a strong nationalist propaganda basis and is fundamentally
opposed to Christianity and Buddhism,
the two largest religions on the Korean peninsula. Juche theoreticians
have, however, incorporated religious ideas into the state ideology. According to government figures, Juche is the largest political religion in North Korea. The public practice of all other religions is overseen and subject to heavy surveillance by the state.
Turkmenistan
During the long rule of president Saparmurat Niyazov large pictures and statues of him could be seen in public places in Turkmenistan.
In an interview with the television news program "60 Minutes", Niyazov
said the people of Turkmenistan placed them there voluntarily because
they love him so much, and that he did not originally want them there.
In addition, he granted himself the title "Türkmenbaşy", meaning "Leader
of all Ethnic Turkmens" in the Turkmen language. A book purportedly authored by Niyazov, Ruhnama
("Book of the Soul") was required reading in educational institutions
and was often displayed and treated with the same respect as the Qur'an.
The study of Ruhnama in the academic system was scaled down but to some
extent continued after Niyazov's death (in 2006), as of 2008.
Lebanon
Since its foundation in 1982, Hezbollah, the Shi'a Islamist political party and paramilitary group has produced public media
in order to maintain the Lebanese population under a permanent state of
order. The nominally terrorist organization that now has Members in the
Parliament and the government uses European-inspired techniques such as
the cult of personality, cult of martyrdom, antisemitism and conspirationnism.
Latest example of terror is dated from October 2017 when angry citizens
criticized Hezbollah's leader and political allies before being forced
into apologizing publicly in a humiliating way.
