Religious democracy

Religious democracy

Religious democracy [ [http://www.drsoroush.com/English/Interviews/E-INT-20031200-1.htm AbdolKarim Soroush :: عبدالکريم سروش ] ] means that the values of religion play a role in the public arena in a society populated by religious people. Religious democracy is an example of how democratic values can exist in a different cultural elaboration than what is usually known before. [ http://www.humanrights.dk/news/conference_article/ ] But, in a secular society, some other characteristic is deemed important and focused on, and that becomes the basis for democracy.

Democracy is one of the propositions that has always been afflicted with confusion and misunderstanding. Hence, many religious people are afraid of approaching it. We do not have one democracy but many democracies from ancient Greece to today, hence plurality of democracies in the international community. What emerged was that a democracy prevailed in different eras depending on the conditions of the time. What alters the hue and color of democracy is a society’s specific characteristics and elements.

Democracy where coincides with certain things, it can be secular or religious. [ [http://www.gazellebookservices.co.uk/ISBN/1904063187.htm 1904063187 : 9781904063186:Theory of Religious Democracy ] ] But what occurs is coincidence, and not unity. Relativistic liberalism and democracy are not identical. According to some, democracy is not violated when a faith is embraced; it is violated when a particular belief is imposed or disbelief is punished.

Criticism

Two major idea against the religious democracy could be recognized. [ [http://www.wwrn.org/article.php?idd=6426&sec=59&con=33 WorldWide Religious News-President Says Democracy Conforms With Religion in Iran ] ] [http://www.watsoninstitute.org/bjwa/archive/9.2/Iran/Schmid.pdf]

* From the Secularism point of view, the ideals of a democratic society and a secular state are in unified. Therefore the firm separation of religion and state is insisted such that without this separation there can be no freedom from tyranny. Absolute sovereignty of the people dominates in this idea. Religion should be put aside from the scene of life in order to establish democracy and freedom.

* From the Legalism point of view, democracy can never enjoy a general acceptance in a religious society. Anything outside of the rigid, but pervasive, interpretation of the religious texts is rejected and the absolute sovereignty of God prevails such that there is no role for the sovereignty of people. The less freedom a society enjoys, the stronger religion will be.

American religious democracy

The most significant, public religious issue confronting America today is the relationship between Church and State. Secular opinion holds that the rise of religion in the public square is a threat to democracy that must be resisted. American Religious Democracy argues that this position, although understandable, is misguided.Though not of a fundamentalist variety. The 2004 election clearly showed that a substantial number of voters in America now vote the way they do for what they consider to be religious reasons and that, as a result of their voting, government policy is changing to reflect their religious commitments. The result has been the creation of a religious democracy. However,taking part in a religious democracy, for Americans especially, requires a new understanding of what religion means in a public and political sense and how secularists can and should participate. [ [http://www.greenwood.com/catalog/C9460.aspx American Religious Democracy — www.greenwood.com ] ] The term "American Religious Democracy" was recently used by Bruce Ledewitz. [ [http://www.law.duq.edu/Academics/AcaFacLed.html Duquesne University | The Law School ] ]

Examples

Historical democracies with state sponsored religious laws:
*Athenian democracy (Ancient Greek religion)
*Roman Republic (Ancient Roman religion)
*Buddhist ganarajyas
*Icelandic Commonwealth (Norse paganism, after AD 1000 Christianity)
*Old Swiss Confederacy (Christianity)Contemporary democracies with state religions:
*Christian:
**Greece, Argentinia, Bolivia, Denmark, Norway
*Islamic:
**Afghanistan, Algeria, Bangladesh, Iran
*Judaism:
**Israel

See also

*Basic Laws of Israel
*Christian democracy
*Clash of Civilizations
*Dialogue Among Civilizations
*Institute on Religion and Democracy
*Islamic democracy

References


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