Editorial

5 pages, 212 KiB

Open AccessEditorial

Special Issue: Exploring the Religious Phenomenon from the Secularism Perspective

by Ignacio Sepúlveda, Luzio Uriarte and Iziar Basterretxea

Religions 2023, 14(10), 1289; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14101289 - 13 Oct 2023

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When considering and accounting for social reality, the relationship between an observer (explorer) and the observed object (explored) is a complex circle, especially in the humanities [...] Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Exploring the Religious Phenomenon from the Secularism Perspective)

Research

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17 pages, 350 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Purpose, Spirituality and Moderate Secularism: The Contribution of Religious Institutions to Purpose Development

by Zaida Espinosa Zárate

Religions 2023, 14(7), 928; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14070928 - 18 Jul 2023

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Abstract

Building on moderate secularism, this article proposes a contribution that religious institutions could make to the common good of pluralistic societies, making more salient their relevance in the public sphere. In particular, based on the latest academic research on the many personal and [...] Read more.

Building on moderate secularism, this article proposes a contribution that religious institutions could make to the common good of pluralistic societies, making more salient their relevance in the public sphere. In particular, based on the latest academic research on the many personal and social benefits of having a clear sense of purpose, it is explored whether religious institutions could contribute to identifying and developing the person’s purpose as a central aspect of spiritual growth, and how to take on this task with the specific means religious institutions have available. Purpose is understood as a superordinate/second-order aim that organises short-term or low-level goals in a way that they are interconnected and can be read teleologically, and which necessarily includes a self-transcendence or other-regarding dimension. Even though this transcendence has, for many nowadays, a purely secular/horizontal meaning, it is argued that religious institutions should get involved in deliberately fostering purpose in a well-informed way, since purpose is a component of spiritual development. In addition, this could help to widen participation and reconnect with those who have moved away from institutional religion but still have a clear concern for spiritual development: the spiritual ‘seekers’, regaining their interest. This poses the challenge of bridging the gap between horizontal and vertical self-transcendence. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Exploring the Religious Phenomenon from the Secularism Perspective)

19 pages, 404 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Dealing with Death in a Secular Society: The Case of Muslim Burials in Spain

by Juan Luis De León and Iziar Basterretxea

Religions 2023, 14(7), 825; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14070825 - 23 Jun 2023

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Abstract

Death is not only a universal biological fact; for the individual it is the “event horizon”. This fact has important symbolic meanings and complex social consequences. Any society, secular or not, must manage this reality. What response is given to the question of [...] Read more.

Death is not only a universal biological fact; for the individual it is the “event horizon”. This fact has important symbolic meanings and complex social consequences. Any society, secular or not, must manage this reality. What response is given to the question of religious phenomenon in general, and to funerary practices in particular, in a secular society in which individuals with different religious sensibilities coexist? This article aims to analyse the response given by the Spanish state to the questions raised regarding burials by Muslim communities, the most widespread minority group in Spain as a whole. This response, which would be framed within what could be called a ‘cooperation model’, has encountered some difficulties as a result of the territorial organisation of the Spanish state. Despite this, the willingness to cooperate on the part of both the administrations that make up the state and the Islamic communities has made a situation of stable coexistence possible. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Exploring the Religious Phenomenon from the Secularism Perspective)

18 pages, 960 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Religious Diversity and Migration: Exploring Research Trends in an Increasingly Secular Spain

by Trinidad L. Vicente Torrado and Gorka Urrutia Asua

Religions 2023, 14(6), 770; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14060770 - 11 Jun 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1270

Abstract

Secularism and the public management of religious diversity have gone hand in hand in public and academic debates in recent decades. Meanwhile, many of the elements related to secularism and the presence of religions in western societies have been conditioned by the migratory [...] Read more.

Secularism and the public management of religious diversity have gone hand in hand in public and academic debates in recent decades. Meanwhile, many of the elements related to secularism and the presence of religions in western societies have been conditioned by the migratory phenomenon. At the same time, Spain has been exposed to a relevant qualitative change in its socio-religious composition, evolving from a mainly Catholic society to a less religious and more diverse one, equating to other European societies. Many controversial issues have arisen in recent decades, such as the role of religion in the public life, the relations between religion and the state and the emergence of a more plural society, having a special role the migratory phenomenon. This contribution approaches these issues through analysis of the linkage between migration and religious diversity studies within a secular framework. The paper aims to analyze this reality, focusing on the main research trends in PhD studies in the past 20 years. The article reveals a growing interest in doctoral research from a multidisciplinary perspective in the field of religion and international migration, the contexts in which this research has been carried out, as well as its main themes and methods of approach. The intent is to study the religious phenomenon linked to immigration, because this reflects, at least to a certain extent, the concern for understanding the presence of religion in an increasingly secular society, such as in Spain. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Exploring the Religious Phenomenon from the Secularism Perspective)

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18 pages, 336 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Understanding the Reasons That Lead Young People in Bogota to Identify as Atheist and Agnostic

by William Mauricio Beltrán and Lorena Peña Rodríguez

Religions 2023, 14(6), 769; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14060769 - 10 Jun 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1418

Abstract

This article uses the frameworks provided by Max Weber’s comprehensive theory to offer insights into why a growing sector of young people residing in Bogota now identifies as either atheist or agnostic. This research attempts to understand why this subgroup rejects or has [...] Read more.

This article uses the frameworks provided by Max Weber’s comprehensive theory to offer insights into why a growing sector of young people residing in Bogota now identifies as either atheist or agnostic. This research attempts to understand why this subgroup rejects or has distanced itself from the Catholic tradition, which is still dominant in Colombia. Quantitative and qualitative data from a survey, along with a series of in-depth interviews of young people aged between 14 and 21 years, is analyzed and interpreted to achieve this purpose. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Exploring the Religious Phenomenon from the Secularism Perspective)

16 pages, 349 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Religion at School in Secular Europe

by Luzio Uriarte and Lidia Rodríguez

Religions 2023, 14(6), 700; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14060700 - 25 May 2023

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Abstract

It is widely accepted that Europe is characterised by a secularised society and states marked by laicism (laïcité). The article analyses how this European secularity observes religious education, highlighting the fact that it does not have a single model. The diversity of interpretations [...] Read more.

It is widely accepted that Europe is characterised by a secularised society and states marked by laicism (laïcité). The article analyses how this European secularity observes religious education, highlighting the fact that it does not have a single model. The diversity of interpretations of the term “secularity” is not unrelated to the fact that there is a plurality of approaches to the teaching (or non-teaching) of religion within European education systems. The authors of the article opt for Taylor’s approach of defining secularity not by its relation to religion, but by the ends it desires to achieve. Within this framework, the article describes the plurality of models of teaching religion in education systems and how these models articulate the values that secularity seeks to achieve. The analysis takes into account both the guidelines and recommendations of European institutions and the policies implemented by states. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Exploring the Religious Phenomenon from the Secularism Perspective)

15 pages, 276 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Resonance: The Final Dissolution of Religions or the Last Stage of Secularization

by Oriol Quintana and Xavier Casanovas Combalia

Religions 2023, 14(6), 689; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14060689 - 23 May 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 995

Abstract

Secularized societies allow for all kinds of expressions of human spirituality (or lack of it). However, both the established religions and the more fluid forms of spirituality seem to leave open a specific space for the religious experience as something that cannot be [...] Read more.

Secularized societies allow for all kinds of expressions of human spirituality (or lack of it). However, both the established religions and the more fluid forms of spirituality seem to leave open a specific space for the religious experience as something that cannot be met in any other form of cultural expression. Rosa’s theory of Resonance, we argue, has the potential to empty this specific space of religious experience, advancing secularization to the next level. To Rosa, a religious experience is no longer a unique form of human experience but a simple example, among others, of the variety of experiences of Resonance. Rosa, albeit inadvertently, reinforces Sloterdijk’s analysis, according to which the traditional concept of religion is a misunderstanding that can be overcome. These approaches to religion open the possibility of a third stage in the theories of secularization. In the first, the Enlightenment proclaimed that religion was to be washed away by the impulse of the immanent frame of Modernity. In the second, Taylor, Casanova, and others showed that religion never disappeared and that Modernity merely enabled religious pluralism. In the third stage of the theories of secularization, religion will be seen as a redundant cultural product. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Exploring the Religious Phenomenon from the Secularism Perspective)

10 pages, 271 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Catholic Church’s Formula for Adaptation to Modernity and Contemporary Models of Secularism

by Piotr Musiewicz

Religions 2023, 14(5), 638; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14050638 - 10 May 2023

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Abstract

The aim of this paper is to assess the Catholic Church’s formula for adaptation to Modernity from the perspectives of contemporary models of Secularism. For this purpose, it will use the typology of Jacques Berlinerblau, with five models of Secularism (Separationism, Disestablishment, Laïcité, [...] Read more.

The aim of this paper is to assess the Catholic Church’s formula for adaptation to Modernity from the perspectives of contemporary models of Secularism. For this purpose, it will use the typology of Jacques Berlinerblau, with five models of Secularism (Separationism, Disestablishment, Laïcité, Accommodationism, and Atheistic Secularism). For some of these models, the Church’s formula will be found—to different extents—agreeable, while other models will regard it as hardly acceptable. The assessment will proceed by defining Modernity, outlining the Catholic Church’s formula for adaptation to modern ideas, and discussing five different models of Secularism. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Exploring the Religious Phenomenon from the Secularism Perspective)

14 pages, 261 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Uses and Abuses of Religion in the Contemporary Legal Development of Montenegro: Undermining the Principle of Secularity

by Aleksandra Vukasinovic and Biljana Damjanović

Religions 2023, 14(4), 532; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14040532 - 15 Apr 2023

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Abstract

In the context of contemporary legal and political development, this work aims to analyze, through the prism of the constitutional principles of secularism and the civic state, the growing influence of religion on politics in Montenegro which has indirectly caused tectonic changes in [...] Read more.

In the context of contemporary legal and political development, this work aims to analyze, through the prism of the constitutional principles of secularism and the civic state, the growing influence of religion on politics in Montenegro which has indirectly caused tectonic changes in the current legal relationship between the state and religious communities, at least temporarily questioning these everlasting values of constitutional democracy. Our basic hypothesis is that, in this correlation between the state and the Orthodox Church, religion is being used not only as a belief system which primarily belongs to the spiritual sphere of individuals, but also as a tool in redefining national identity and achieving politically desirable results at the public level. In the interpretation of positive legal regulations, this paper predominantly uses teleological and normative methodology together with sociological and axiological methods, necessary for understanding the broader context of the widened scope of bonding between religion and politics. This paper is also accompanied by relevant literature, which is promising in terms of solving the very interesting issues which once belonged to the “spirits of the past” and yet in the twenty-first century have been modernized at the place where the internal legal order of Montenegro and the Orthodox Church meet. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Exploring the Religious Phenomenon from the Secularism Perspective)

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