Genealogy of Religion

Exploring the Origins, History and Future of Religion

Entries Tagged as 'Civil Religion'

Christian America and Religious Intolerance

August 11th, 2010 · 1 Comment · Atheism and Religion, Axial Age Religions, Civil Religion, Emotions and Religion

In an odd article that attempts to situate Anne Rice’s very public proclamation that she is leaving the Catholic Church within the larger context of American Christianity, Los Angeles Times religion reporter William Lobdell makes two apparently contradictory claims:

American Christianity is not well, and there’s evidence to indicate that its condition is more critical [...]

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Ground Zero is “Sacred Ground”

July 21st, 2010 · No Comments · Civil Religion, Definitions of Religion, Emotions and Religion, Power and Religion

In yesterday’s post on the religion of nationalism, I noted that Ground Zero is sacred ground for the believer-patriots of American national religion.  If you questioned this assertion, doubt no more — the GOP has produced an incendiary video which declares that Ground Zero is “sacred ground” and that an Islamic mosque cannot be built [...]

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Nationalism as Religion

July 20th, 2010 · No Comments · Civil Religion, Classifications of Religion, Cultural Evolution of Religion, Definitions of Religion, History of Religions, Power and Religion, Recent and New Religions, Ritual and Religion

In a previous post, Religious Wars and Nationalism, I discussed two factors that play a major role in group cohesion.  The first factor, which played a dominant role for the majority of human evolution, was extended and fictive kinship.  This is what primarily held groups together during the Paleolithic.  After the Neolithic Revolution, another factor [...]

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Religious Wars and Nationalism

July 18th, 2010 · No Comments · Cultural Evolution of Religion, Economy and Religion, History of Religions, Power and Religion, Religion as Evolutionary Adaptation, Religion as Evolutionary Byproduct

Over at HuffPo Religion, Matt Rossano has written a thought provoking piece — which some may find surprising — on the relationship between war and religion.   In Why Religion Does Not Equal War, Rossano begins with the common knowledge that religious differences often lead to war, or that religious differences are often used to justify [...]

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The Many Functions of Religions

May 17th, 2010 · 3 Comments · Axial Age Religions, Civil Religion, Cognition and Religion, Cultural Evolution of Religion, History of Religions, Morality and Religion, Religion as Evolutionary Adaptation, Religion as Evolutionary Byproduct, Ritual and Religion, Shamans and Shamanism

There is a long history of assessing — and attempting to explain — religion in a functional manner.  Marx and Engels figured that the function of religion was to disguise the realities of the underlying economic system and palliate the suffering of the laboring masses.  Durkheim thought that the function of religion was to enable [...]

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Why “Civil Religion”?

February 10th, 2010 · No Comments · Civil Religion

Over the past 500 years, the rise of the nation-state has resulted in one of the most potent cultural forces in history.  This force, which has much in common with religion in terms of both structure and influence, is nationalism.  The sociologist Robert Bellah coined the term “civil religion” and has written much on the [...]

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