What are we talking about when we talk about the (post)secular? Recentering mutual participation and a commitment to communicability in scholarly discussions of contemporary religions
What are we talking about when we talk about the postsecular? This article looks at the ways articulations of the secular often presuppose the presence – not the absence – of religion and religious plurality. This can be observed even in the work of early theorists of secularism as well as of the fi...
Published in: | Dialog |
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Main Author: | |
Format: | Electronic Article |
Language: | English |
Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
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Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
Published: |
Wiley-Blackwell
2023
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In: |
Dialog
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RelBib Classification: | AD Sociology of religion; religious policy CG Christianity and Politics CH Christianity and Society KAH Church history 1648-1913; modern history KAJ Church history 1914-; recent history |
Further subjects: | B
Secular
B Schleiermacher B Pluralism B Intercultural B Habermas B social resilience B Postsecular |
Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) Volltext (kostenfrei) |
Summary: | What are we talking about when we talk about the postsecular? This article looks at the ways articulations of the secular often presuppose the presence – not the absence – of religion and religious plurality. This can be observed even in the work of early theorists of secularism as well as of the first sociologists who observed secularizing tendencies in society and sought to conduct social-scientific inquiry in a way that aimed to be analytically agnostic. At the same time, the return or renewed visibility of religion does not imply a decrease in individualization of religious expression, the disappearance of secularist attitudes, or that challenges of negotiating religious pluralism have been overcome. This more complicated orientation toward relating secularity and religious pluralism shifts the focus away from debates over the truth or rationality of religious beliefs and practices to the need for mutual, voluntary, open, and ongoing communication among them. On the one hand, a commitment is necessary to the creation and maintenance of meaningful participation opportunities in the self-presentation of religious self-understandings in relation to issues of common concern (the mutuality requirement); on the other hand, a steadfast commitment is needed from religious persons and groups themselves to persistent participation in presentation of one's own views or those of one's constituencies in ways that are clear and accessible to all other participants (the voluntariness requirement). |
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ISSN: | 1540-6385 |
Contains: | Enthalten in: Dialog
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Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1111/dial.12785 |