How has religion survived in a world obsessed with Logic?

Today the world order is characterised by logic and rational thinking. All our decisions are based on our own choice after assessing competing theories given by experts.Even on simplest of issues like what are the most fashionable clothes to what are the best moral values we get numerable choices to choose from based on varying logics. 

However , it is interesting to note that even in this world driven by logic , religion has stood like a solid  rock withstanding all attacks from science.

Hence, one must wonder that with the arrival of democracies when the intellectuals had written off religion as a thing of the past we see the influence of religion in the most modern societies.

In USA , abortion is an issue , in Europe the Pope still has authority while in middle east the 'modern' Israel calls itself a Jewish state. Communism as a political system challenged religion and we all know what happened to USSR.

The following blog is based on the writings of Anthony Giddens from UK who argues that a new era of High Modernity or Post modernity has arrived. He discusses that how in this post modern world , religion which everyone expected to decline and become extinct has actually revived and is even challenging the institutions of modernity at some places.

Questions Addressed -

 

1. What is enlightenment and how was it the turning point in the human history?

2. Characteristics of a Post Modernist or a High Modern society.

3. How has religion not only survived but also flourished in the post modern world?

4. The rise of fundamentalists and revival of religion based politics.

Analysis

To understand Post- Modernity , we first need to understand what is modernity and how did it arrive.

Context : 17th-18th Century

It was the time when the world was going through a turmoil. It is then that a special phase in human history came which transformed the way we think. 

Enlightenment : We all have come across this word , but most of us tend to ignore the historicity of it.

Erstwhile Europe like every other place in the world was ruled by a monarchy. The Monarchy claimed that God has given them the right to rule. Hence the Church ( religious institutions ) also propagated such beliefs in the society. It was a prevalent belief in the society that we all must obey the king because he is the man of God.

This was also seen in India where Mughals claimed ruling rights based on religion. Similarly many Hindu kings practiced Rajyabhishek ceremonies , ashwamedha yajna etc. which gave religious character to the rights of monarchy to rule.

Enlightenment is characterised by a challenge to this point of view. Thinkers such as Montesquieu , John  Locke , Rousseau etc. started questioning this ' Divine Right to Rule ' given by default to the kings and their off-springs. 

They instead proposed ideas of natural rights of humans. They said since all humans are born equal , why do some individuals get special treatment? They questioned all those ideas which were based on tradition and promoted rational thinking.

Thus , the ideas of rationality and logic that we take for granted today were born. Inspired by these ideas people started questioning their kings. They started demanding their rights. It was in this context that French Revolution took place.

They questioned the role of religion in making laws and ensure justice. Thus they took it on themselves to create a mechanism for law-making based on what people want for themselves. Thus , democracy was born.

This change of thinking based on logic and rationality was termed as Modernity. It involved questioning traditions and asking for logic from religion. This also led to the scientific revolution and industrial revolution which were both based on logical and rational thinking.

Post - Modernity

Lets fast forward to the  21st century that we live in.

Modernity was based on logic and rational thinking. Post modernity took this a step further and led to radicalisation of some aspects of modernity. It can be characterised as -

Reflexivity :

This involves constant monitoring of social life in order to improve it. People become increasingly willing to change their beliefs and practices in the light of new knowledge and experience. 

For Example , when the fossil fuels were initially discovered they were termed as 'clean fuels' as they could free the roads of horse shit!!

Later , with the knowledge of greenhouse gases our beliefs and practices changed.

This also meant challenging the traditions. Feminism started questioning the need for women to cover their bodies while the new youth started questioning the worth of prayers to God. Hence , everything in society started being questioned.

Enlightenment had rejected superstitions and had promised certainty through scientific knowledge. However post modernity leads to unsettling uncertainty because of this constant willingness to change. 

Changes in Organisation of time and space

Traditionally people  who were separated by space i.e distant apart were 'absent' to each other. Hence our orientation was local based on people and knowledge we knew of personally.

Modernity tears away this space and allows for communication between people who were erstwhile 'absent' to each other. This leads to globalisation of social life.

This has lead to social relationships increasingly taking place between people living miles apart. Long Distance Relationships are an example.

Also , the need to know people personally was not necessary. E.g people  travelling through a flight need not know the working of a plane or the pilot personally. Their trust has transferred from personal knowledge to trust on the systems.

Dis-embedding

Traditionally what happened in a locality was shaped by the local factors and people. Modernity lifts out the social relationships from their local contexts and stretches the boundaries to infinity. 

In simple words what happens in a particular locality may be shaped by events far away.

For Example a factory may have to close because of economic changes in other continents.

  

So these characteristics define post-modernity. But how does it all connects to religion?

At first sight it appears that post-modernism is not a place where traditional beliefs ( such as religion )  can survive. It involves questioning traditional beliefs with highly developed science and technology which cannot be sustained by religion.

Also, as local communities become less significant hence religious beliefs are less likely to be reinforced by the communities in which people live. 

However , when we look around us we find religion a very important component of our lives. In fact , most of our identities are as much associated with religion as they are with our nationality. How did it become possible?

Giddens says that , modernity led to decline of religion however post modernity provides the conditions for resurgence of religion.

As tradition loses grip on the social life , the individuals tend to get increasingly reflexive. i.e people make more conscious choice about who they are and what they wish to become. They do not simply accept their position in the society based on tradition.

For example , earlier maginalised groups such as women , untouchables start asserting their voice based on rationality and logic.

However , in this process individuals face problem in developing their 'sense of self'. Rational knowledge has replaced the certainty that comes with tradition. Nevertheless every field has competing experts making divergent claims about what is true.

Individuals have to choose between the claims of these experts in many areas of their life. E.g conflicting advise on most effective investment , the healthiest diet or the best moral values.

High modernity is therefore characterised by increasing doubts in people's minds about all sorts of aspects about their life.

Secondly , ' existential questions '  i.e questions about why people exist tend to be separated from everyday life in high modernity. People are isolated from thinking about death , what happens after you die , why should you act in a 'sane' way etc. They enter in something which is called as a 'moral vacuum'.

As people  try to make sense of their lives and themselves in a reflexive way but within a moral vacuum,  'Personal Meaninglessness' - the feeling that life has nothing worthwhile to offer - becomes a fundamental psychic.

Spirituality can step in to fill such vacuum and give a purpose to life. Religion gives answers to those 'existential questions' . It gives a purpose to life and gives a peace of mind.

However religion may not be the only thing that can fill up this vacuum , sometimes people might feel a sense of moral fulfillment through joining an ecological movement. They try to live in harmony with earth rather than joining a religious movement.

Unlike the past in the high modernity people have a great choice in religious beliefs and movements to consider. Reflexive individuals have to decide for themselves which cult , sect or denomination they which to be a part of.

One of the most extreme reaction to extreme modernity ( Post Modernism ) has been religious fundamentalism. To counter the instability of uncertainty caused by rational thinking , fundamentalists offer returning to traditionalism. They offer that our life should again only be guided by traditional beliefs as they have been in the past. 

Hence we see examples of religion being used to gain political power ( Divine right to rule ). We see religious sects using violence against modernist events and institutions such as valentine's day or love marriage or live in relationship. They advocate giving up rationality completely and come back to traditions based on ' our culture and values '.

It must be hence understood that the best way lies in between these two extremes. Where modernism determines our secular activities like polity , economy , social life etc. while religion takes up spirituality and addressing the mental health problems and instilling a purpose in our lives.

Religion and science are not contradictory to each other , rather they are complementary to each other.

Amit Chauhan!!

I hope your learnt something new today.

Keep reading and happy brainstorming..