Political religion: a concept and its critics – a critical survey

This paper is a critical survey of the debate on civil and political religions, and a reappraisal of the main issues dealing with the different views on the relationships between politics and religion, beyond the traditional experiences of the Church and State associations in the form of established...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: GENTILE, EMILIO (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Taylor & Francis 2005
In: Totalitarian movements and political religions
Year: 2005, Volume: 6, Issue: 1, Pages: 19-32
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Summary:This paper is a critical survey of the debate on civil and political religions, and a reappraisal of the main issues dealing with the different views on the relationships between politics and religion, beyond the traditional experiences of the Church and State associations in the form of established religion or religious policy of the sovereign. The author give relevance to the modernity of the process of the sacralization of politics and to its various permutations in contemporary age, since the age of the democratic revolutions of the 18th century to the present time. In this perspective, the author proposes a redefinition of the concept of civil and political religions, by considering the different approach to the religious phenomenon, that cannot be confined only to the dimension of the divine, but has to be broadened to the dimension of the sacred. In the conclusion, the author reiterates his own definitions of civil and political religions and the different historical combination of these secular religions with the traditional religions, which is one of conflict or of syncretism according to historical situations.
ISSN:1743-9647
Contains:Enthalten in: Totalitarian movements and political religions
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1080/14690760500099770