The Secularization Thesis isn’t working.
“God’s Century: Resurgent Religion and Global Politics” by political scientists Toft (Kennedy School), Philpott (Notre Dame) and Shah (Georgetown) is a somewhat dense, non-normative, political science treatise, crippled a little bit by political correctness. It’s message: How’s that scientific socialism working out for ya’ all?
Well, that’s the message I took from it, anyway. The books central thesis (and it’s a big one) is that the Secularization Thesis – the prediction that religion would wilt before the juggernauts of the modern world – is, in fact, wrong. They don’t express an opinion as to whether this is a good fact or a bad fact, but it is a fact. They do argue that this doesn’t have to be a bad thing, but that it could be.
Religious actors have, since at least the ‘60’s, made stunning comebacks in most of the world, in particular the Middle East and Red China. Religion has come to play a central role in U.S. electoral politics, and has even filled the vacuum in Europe via Islam stirring revivalist nationhood Christianity among the indigenous population, e.g. French president Nicolas Sarkozy’s 2004 book on religion and public life, “The Republic, Religions, Hope”.
A review by Eric Blair at Amazon:
Toft, Philpott, and Shah have pooled their considerable talents to introduce a foundational book in what is certain to be a growing area of inquiry: the role of religion in global politics. The book really offers two important theses. First, it explains how trends such as democratization, modernization and globalization--far from "killing" religion--actually fast-forwarded it. Second, the authors offer a nuanced view of the potential of religion to transform global politics; both for ill and for good. Although in much of the advanced-industrial world, the rise of religion has been viewed with a mix of puzzlement, denial, and alarm; the authors of God's Century have been careful to point out why and how religion's long-term impact may not be instability and conflict, but a greater appreciation of human rights and a greater possibility of peace. Either contribution on its own would make this a must-read, but together the two arguments combine to make this a foundational reading; and this is true whether you agree with the book's core arguments or not.
Imagine the fits of rage when the New Atheists read that bolded part!
The book ends with ten points for politicians dealing with waves of unruly believers. It’s worth the read, but let me boil it down to two:
- The more Statist the régime, the more it will seek to suppress religion – because religion is a competing power center; and
- Suppressing religion won’t work, unless you kill them all – and maybe not then.
The Secularization Incursion
Gertrude Himmelfarb in her book The Roads to Modernity wrote of the three quite separate Enlightenments (British, French and American), and how they have played out over time. The most enduring feature of the French Enlightenment was its hostility to religion (in contrast to the American Enlightenment which embraced belief in God). This hostility unwittingly played into the hands of Statists, because the theology of the Christian church supported separation of church and state. The Church was a pillar of civil society that was smashed by the forces let loose by the French Enlightenment. This opened the way for totalistic and, later, socialist régimes, to dominate societies because their most powerful foe was already weakened or destroyed. The U.S. smashed the Axis powers and the U.S.S.R., but left untouched the welfare-state regimes of Western Europe, and in fact has moved a long way in that direction itself. The European Union was to be a major thrust forward for consolidation of control, but now teeters on the brink of dissolution for lack of an organizing principle or core belief.
God’s Century argues that religion will not disappear. I see that as a ray of hope, because a resurgent Christianity would constitute a bulwark against the continued expansion of the State. (You don’t have to carry a Bible to be brothers-in-arms.) This is certainly happening in the U.S., and I think it could in Europe as it searches for a way to deal with Islam, which is a dagger aimed at its heart.
God’s Century is ‘politically correct’ because the authors abstain from comparative theology. The book strove to be fair and balanced. In contrast, I think Islam requires fundamental reform (not putting non-believers to the sword, and separation of church and state, for instance) or it will lead to more death, more unrest and more wars.
So, Secularization Thesis, rest in peace.