Religion and Politics Midterm Review Monday October 10th 2 Short Essays: 8 Questions - 3 will be on Exam - Write about 2 1) Discuss what the "secularization thesis" is. Then explain how the global resurgence of religion has affected it. Give specific examples/references to Jewish/Christian traditions. The secularization thesis is defined as the process by which sectors of society and culture are removed from the domination of religious institutions and symbols. The thesis is a core assumption of a larger school of thought according to which the modern state was the product of a linear process of development from traditional agrarian societies governed by arbitrary authority toward more sophisticated urban societies with a complex division of labour, governed by the rule of law as opposed to the rule of the church. Moreover, secularization theory contends that modern societies did not give credence to the traditional religious hierarchies and beliefs of the past. Ultimately, modern political institutions are to become characterized by the absence of sacred authority. Therefore, modernization is believed to be synonymous with secularization according to this thesis. A secular state may avoid making any one religion the normative religion, avoid justifying laws or appealing to scripture or religious doctrine, prefer not to have cleric offer prayers or act as a leader at public occasions, may not provide public funds for religious education or festivals. However, secular states do usually protect religious freedom and may indirectly support religious institutions/tax exemptions. The notion of the secularity of temporal authority has its roots in the Christian tradition of the separation of church and state. At a deeper level, it has been found that as a country develops the economic and political resources that make a more secure life possible, its people are less likely to feel the need to give religion a central role in public life. However, religion is by no means a declining factor in world politics. Given the continuing population growth in developing countries where life is anything but secure, religion is predicted to continue to be an important force in world politics for some time to come. The global resurgence of religion has affected the secularization thesis in that it has exposed it as being an oversimplification that has not been proven true empirically. Globalization has given religion a new relevance in the struggle against cultural homogenization. Some critics have observed that the association of secularization wit modernization tends to either be an ideologically loaded assumption or a self-fulfilling prophecy. After gaining their independence, many former colonized societies set out to eliminate religion from public life as part of their effort to create a rational modern society. As a result, secularization came to resemble an ideological program. Thus secularization theory runs the risk of suggesting that because most modern societies are secular, all modern societies should or must be secularized. It sidesteps the question of religion's value as a basis for judgments about policy and the way things ought to be. Two issues have brought religion