Research On Religion » Europe

Chris Soper on the Challenge of Religious Pluralism

tonygill — Sun, 09 Apr 2017 08:00:20 +0000

How do various democratic nations manage increasing religious pluralism around the world? Prof. Christopher Soper, a distinguished political scientist at Pepperdine University, answers this question and talks about the third edition of his book The Challenge of Pluralism, co-authored with Kevin den Dulk and the late Stephen Monsma. After Chris provides a few reflections on the scholarly influence of Prof. Monsma, we discuss how a third edition of this popular text suggested itself with a changing religious environment in many Western democracies, most notably the increase in Muslim populations in Europe. Prof. Soper notes that the impetus for the book back in 1997 was to answer three questions that remain more relevant than ever: 1) How much religiously-motived behavior that is contrary to societal welfare and norms can a democratic polity allow?; 2) To what extent should the state promote consensual religious beliefs in order to promote a shared set of values and virtues that are fundamental to limited democratic governance?; and 3) When religious groups and government agencies are active in the same fields of work, how can a society ensure that the state does not advantage one religious group (or secular belief system) over another? Chris then reviews the three models of church-state relations that he and his co-authors detail in the book: 1) the separationist model as exemplified by the United States and France; 2) the establishment model that includes England and Germany; and 3) the pluralist model in both its “pragmatic” (Australia) and “principled” variants (the Netherlands). He explains the dimensions of each model, noting that there is variation within each category. For example, while both the US and France are considered separationist, the historical trajectories of each country conditioned a more aggressive separationist position in France. For much of the second half of the interview, we walk through examples of these models with Chris giving background on each of the cases. Prof. Soper argues the case that the pluralist model is best at recognizing the importance of religion in the public square while still allowing space for secular claims. Our discussion also centers around how each of the states are meeting and accommodating increased religious pluralism, most notably with respect to the growing presence of Islam. With Islam being a much more decentralized faith tradition than the typical European Christian denominations, it has been difficult to absorb this religion into historical church-state models, particularly those of the establishment variant, but efforts have been made to do this. We finish our podcast with Chris giving his opinion about the viability of a Christian Democratic party in the United States (revisiting a question from an earlier podcast), and reflecting on what he has learned over two decades and three editions of his book. Recorded: March 28,2017.

The Challenge of Pluralism: Church and State in Six Democracies, by J. Christopher Soper, Kevin den Dulk, and Stephen Monsma.

Muslims and the State in Britain, France, and Germany, by Joel Fetzer and J. Christopher Soper.

Confucianism, Democracy, and Human Rights in Taiwan, by Joel Fetzer and J. Christopher Soper.

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Joel Fetzer on Confucianism and Democracy.

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Does American Need a Christian Democratic Party?

Rodney Stark on The Triumph of Faith

tonygill — Sun, 17 Jan 2016 10:21:04 +0000

The decline of religion around the world may be greatly exaggerated. This is the assertion made by Dr. Rodney Stark — co-founder and director of Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of Religion and frequent guest on our program. He backs his claim with extensive survey evidence from a number of polling organizations (namely the Gallup World Poll) and other bits of evidence from scholarly studies. We take a tour de force of religion around the world to see that faith is as strong as ever, even in the United States.

Surveys by Pew Forum and the American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS) have indicated religious practice is on the decline in the United States. Tony asks Rod whether he has seen a similar trend in his own research using the Baylor Religion Study. While there has been an increase in the number of individuals who claim “no religious affiliation” or the infamous “nones” discussed by Pew, Prof. Stark notes that this really affects religious affiliation and not necessarily belief. His own examination of “nones” indicates that a substantial number of them still believe in God, pray weekly, and occasionally attend worship services. He also notes that many individuals who proclaim no traditional religious affiliation believe in “non-conventional” forms of the supernatural such as various New Age ideas of spirituality or entities such as elves. Tony points out that even in Iceland where attendance at church services is near the lowest in the Christian world, there is still a strong belief in elves to the point where people will hire clerics to investigate whether such creatures are inhabiting land they plan to build upon. Our conversation at this point also covers some issues with survey methodology and Rod explains the reason he is relying upon the Gallup World Poll for much of his research data.

We then expand our exploration to the rest of the world outside of the US and Europe. Whereas Europe has not seen any significant increase in religious practice or belief recently (outside of Muslim immigrants), the rest of the globe is experiencing a major explosion in religious affiliation, practice, and belief. Rod lists a couple statistics to bolster this point, including 81% of the world population claiming to belong to some organized religious faith, 71% saying that religion is important in their lives, and 51% having participated in some organized form of worship in the past week. Atheism rates remains relatively stagnant with only three countries registering more than 20% of the population as non-believers. Attendance and affiliation remains most flaccid in Europe. This continent registers low among individuals who attend religious services largely because Christianity was never deeply embedded in a number of these countries to begin with (particularly in Northern Europe) and monopolized state churches have little incentive to recruit and serve members, according to Prof. Stark.

Moving from the least religiously active part of the world, we then travel to Africa where religious practice has been growing exponentially. This is particularly true in sub-Saharan Africa where there was nary a Christian on the continent in the late 1800s, but a vast majority now proclaim Christianity and attendance rates are the highest in the world. Rod points out that this is not only due to missionary work by Europeans in the early 20th century who introduced the faith, but more importantly is the result of indigenous church growth — i.e., Africans developing and organizing their own Christian denominations. Catholicism also shows strong growth in the region, surprising even the Vatican itself with its strong indigenous roots. We talk briefly about Islam in Northern Africa, and how contact between Muslims and Christians has created unfortunate conflict in some parts of the continent.

Asia is our next region of focus. Having recently co-authored a book with Xiuhua Wang on Christianity in China (see below), Rod explains how this country poses a unique challenge to secularization theory. While China is modernizing rapidly, it is also Christianizing equally fast and despite attempts by the communist regime to suppress or control the growth. Interestingly, the growth in religious practice is coming amongst the most educated and prosperous in Chinese society. While the central regime in China is concerned about this religious growth, many local officials take a hands-off approach to the practice of house churches. Tony speculates that there may be many parallels between what is currently happening in China to what went on in the pre-Constantine Church in the first three centuries. Japan becomes the next topic of conversation. Here, religious practice remains rather low. Rod points out that even with high rates of unbelief, many people still rely upon Shinto priests to bless their autos, homes, and even military equipment (which Tony mentions from a previous podcast with Ron Hassner).

Our last two topics cover Latin America and Islam. In the former, religious practice has increased dramatically despite the notion that Latin Americans have always been (since colonization) firmly Catholic. Prof. Stark tips his hat to Tony’s own research on the region and how Protestant missionaries in the 20th century lit a competitive fire underneath the Catholic Church, which prompted this institution to better serve its parishioner base. We discuss how the Latin American Catholic Church, whereas it used to rely upon imported priests, now sees significant growth in native seminarians and Rod provides an interesting anecdote from his time in California about how competition from Pentecostals motivated a Catholic parish. We touch a bit on Islam noting that while religious practice has been relatively high in North Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia, this faith has become “more intensified” in recent decades. The display of religious symbols (e.g., hijab) has become more pronounced, and Rod discusses how Islam provides a great deal of internal religious competition that can give rise to this, particularly in an environment that is showing increased resentment of Western morals.

We finish off with some reflections on secularization theory and why this perspective is still so entrenched in the Academy. Prof. Stark shares some comments on political correctness and encourages more honest research amongst intellectuals. Recorded: December 30, 2015.

The Triumph of Faith: Why the World Is More Religious than Ever, by Rodney Stark.

America’s Blessings: How Religion Benefits Everyone, Including Atheists, by Rodney Stark.

The Triumph of Christianity: How the Jesus Movement Became the World’s Largest Religion, by Rodney Stark.

America’s Blessings: How Religion Benefits Everyone… Including Atheists, by Rodney Stark (available November 2012).

Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of Religion.

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Rodney Stark on How Religion Benefits Everyone, Including Atheists.

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Rodney Stark on the Triumph of Christianity, Part II.

Rodney Stark on the Triumph of Christianity, Part III.

Rodney Stark on The Crusades.

Hunter Baker on Secularism

tonygill — Mon, 28 May 2012 08:00:15 +0000

What role should religion be allowed to play in the public square? With a presidential election heating up, this question will undoubtedly be debated time and time again. Research on Religion jumps headfirst into this debate with Prof. Hunter Baker, an associate professor of political science and the associate dean of Arts & Sciences at Union University. Prof. Baker discusses his recent book, The End of Secularism.

We start with a bit of revealing banter about the cover of that book but quickly turn our attention to more academic discussion of secularization theory and its ideological outgrowth, “secularism.” Hunter defines “secularism” as an ideological position wherein religious practice and discourse must be removed from public visibility, either physically in terms of the display of religious symbols (e.g., creche scenes) or rhetorically in terms of how religious ideas influence policy. He argues that while many people feel that a secular public square provides a neutral ground for persons of all different creeds, in reality such a view privileges this specific ideology of secularism and thereby excluding alternative voices from being heard. Hunger further notes that secularism is often applied selectively depending on what political or economic issue is at stake. This is aptly illustrated with a comparison of how Judge Roy Moore was vilified when he tried to display the Ten Commandments in a courthouse, whereas the efforts of Susan Pace Hamill and Governor Bob Riley explicitly used religious justifications for implementing a progressive tax structure in Alabama.

When pressed as to whether secularism as an ideology is gaining an upper hand in America, Prof. Baker acknowledges that it may be in terms of displaying Nativity scenes on public property, but that attitudes towards rhetoric are changing so as to consider religiously-influenced speech to be more acceptable today than compared to the past few decades. A spirited discussion over whether city hall should display a creche around Christmas reveals some interesting insights, with the conversation then veering into the realm of public education, John Stuart Mill, and school choice.

Prof. Baker then reviews and critiques a number of arguments that have been advanced for supporting a secularist vision of governance over one that has religious mixed in, including ideas that religious conflict gives rise to violence, that science is a much better guide for life than religious faith, and whether or not secularism can generate its own moral code of behavior without relying upon Christian foundations. This leads to a discussion of moral relativism and Prof. Baker noting that those who claim relativism are not as relativistic as they seem. Tony then asks Hunter what a world without secularism as a guiding principle looks like and he answers that we already have a working model of that world here in the United States, which in turn generates an interesting comparison with other nations, most notably Sweden. We discuss education policy and health care mandates along the way to our concluding segment wherein Prof. Baker gives his prognostication about the future of secularism and religious liberty in the U.S. Recorded: May 9, 2012.

RELATED LINKS

Hunter Baker’s biography at academia.edu, Union University.

The End of Secularism, by Hunter Baker. Click on this site to see the cover, which we talk about early in the interview.

“Reflections on the Spirit of the Age,” a blog by Hunter Baker.

Political Thought: A Student’s Guide, by Hunter Baker (available July 2012).

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Jared Rubin on Christian and Islamic Economic History

tonygill — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 08:00:40 +0000

One of the great puzzles of economic history is why a disorganized and war-torn medieval Europe economically surged ahead of the more culturally advanced Islamic world beginning roughly in the 11th century, eventually culminating in Europe being the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution. Are the reasons for these different trajectories related entirely to secular causes, or does religion and religious institutions play a role in conditioning each region’s path? Prof. Jared Rubin, assistant professor of economics at Chapman University (known for being across the street from Bruxie’s), leads us through this fascinating story beginning with what each civilization looked like in the early-mid medieval period (c. 9th and 10th centuries). He then reviews the standard economic explanations for this divergence and we briefly discuss why economists have largely ignored the role of religion and other cultural factors. Jared then primes us for his explanation that focuses on the relationship between religious and political authorities by focusing on one crucial difference that emerged between these two societies — the role of usury laws and how they were enforced. We talk about the origins of usury doctrine, noting that usurious interest was a common practice for consumption loans (as compared to entrepreneurial investment) and was seen by Judaism, Christianity, and Islam as sinful or improper. Jared then traces how changes in the relationship between political and religious authorities affected how prohibitions on usury (and regulations on interest in general) changed in the two regions. With political authorities gaining the upper hand on religious authorities in Europe by the 1400s and 1500s, laws prohibiting or regulating interest rates were significantly relaxed allowing investment capital to pool more easily in Europe, thereby spawning a virtuous cycle of economic growth. These changes did not occur in the Islamic world where religious and political authority remained more tightly intertwined. We finish our discussion with a preview of Prof. Rubin’s work on the economic role of the printing press in European economic development. While the role of the printing press is often given a central role in the economic history of Europe, Prof. Rubin provides a new reading of why it was so important. His full explanation will have to wait until his book is published and/or he returns to our podcast. Recorded: November 8, 2011.

RELATED LINKS

Jared Rubin’s personal website and Chapman University site.

Association for the Study of Religion, Economics, and Culture (ASREC) via ARDA.

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Ken Wald on the Puzzling Politics of American Jews

tonygill — Mon, 23 May 2011 08:00:19 +0000

Ken Wald, professor of political science at the University of Florida, presents us with three puzzles about Jewish political behavior in the United States: 1) Why are American Jews significantly more liberal than non-Jews who have the same socio-economic characteristics?; 2) Why are American Jews more liberal than their Jewish counterparts in other nations such as Australia, Great Britain, and Israel?; and 3) What accounts for the rightward ideological drift among American Jews during the 1970s and early 1980s, only to show a return towards more liberal political preferences in the late 1980s to present? We examine some common explanations for the first question, but Prof. Wald notes that these answers are not satisfying for explaining the latter two questions. He then suggests a historically-rooted explanation focusing on the minority status of Jews combined with the unique church-state relationship that developed during America’s founding (something not present in other nations). Ken then discusses how changes in the Democratic Party during the early 1970s affected Jewish political opinion. The rise of the Christian Right during the 1980s stopped the rightward drift of Jews as they became concerned with alterations to the historical church-state relations that they had favored. We conclude with comparisons to other minority religious groups in the US such as Mormons and Catholics, and finish with a bit of speculation as to where Jewish political opinion may be heading in the coming decade. Recorded: May 4, 2011.

The Jean & Samuel Frankel Center for Judaic Studies (at the University of Michigan).

Religion and Politics in the United States (6th edition), by Kenneth D. Wald and Allison Calhoun-Brown.

The Politics of Cultural Differnces: Social Change & Voter Mobilization Strategies in the Post-New Deal Period, by David C. Leege, Kenneth D. Wald, Brian S. Krueger, and Paul D. Mueller.

The Politics of Gay Rights, edited by Craig A. Rimmerman, Kenneth D. Wald, and Clyde Wilcox.

Cambridge Studies in Social Theory, Religion, and Politics.

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