Religion is a politically ambivalent phenomenon

Since 2007 the “Religion and Politics” Cluster of Excellence has been carrying out research into the changing relationship between religion and politics right across the ages and across cultures – from ancient Egypt up to the present day. Our research alliance includes people from 25 different disciplines: from history, the theologies, social sciences, philologies, law and philosophy.

Religion is a politically ambivalent phenomenon. It can create cohesion and cause division, it can become the engine of social change or the advocate of not changing what already exists. But anyone who looks at religion not only in relation to today’s world but also with a deeper and sharper view of history, who not only examines religion from a Eurocentric perspective but also looks at other regions of the world, will come to understand that religion in the singular does not exist. This is true not only in view of the large number of traditions and communities which we call “religions”, but also in respect of what the term “religion” actually denotes, and how religion is intertwined with politics. In the ancient world, for example, conflicts seldom arose which revolved around competing beliefs regarding the gods. In polytheistic contexts, the pantheon might have included thousand of deities and was not a closed system – in other words, new gods could be integrated without the followers of different cults getting into any conflict with one another. If we look at societies in eastern and southern Asia today, we see that religious affiliations are not divided in the clear-cut way which we might be used to here in (western) Europe. People can belong to several religions and have practices which do not appear to be compatible from a western point of view. So anyone who wishes to know more about how complex the composition of religious affiliations can be, what conflicts arise from them, and under what conditions conflicts may perhaps not arise, should take a closer look at religion.

This is true not only for Asia but also – under different conditions – for western societies, in which religious affiliations are also becoming more complex. This is related to two factors. On the one hand, there is an increase in the plurality of religious faiths and their forms of cultural expression. This results in any political regulation of religion becoming more challenging – particularly in everyday things. For example, school canteens today – compared with just a few years ago – display a heightened sensitivity towards stipulations or preferences relating to food which can go hand in hand with religious affiliation. Schools show which products contain pork, for example, and offer alternatives. On the other hand, there is a strengthening of tendencies towards secularisation, with the result that not belonging to any religious community – which tended to be quite rare a few decades ago – has now become an accepted option in a broad section of society and may indeed become the standard. This development has an impact on the relationship between the state and religion(s), because any model of cooperative division, such as has been established in Germany, assumes that some form of religious affiliation is the rule. If such an affiliation becomes the exception, however, this raises the question of the extent to which the strong legal status which, for example, the Christian churches in Germany have, will come under pressure.

It is such dynamics of religious affiliation and non-affiliation which we plan to examine in the next funding phase beginning in 2026.

Prof. Michael Seewald is the spokesperson of the “Religion and Politics” Cluster of Excellence and is the Director of the Department of Dogma and the History of Dogma.

 

Facts & Figures: “Religion and Politics. Dynamics of Tradition and Innovation” Cluster of Excellence

• Since 2007 the Cluster has been studying the complex relationship between religion and politics from the ancient world up to today
• It is the largest research alliance of its kind in Germany, and the only Cluster of Excellence working on the subject of religion
• We have more than 150 researchers from 25 disciplines in the Humanities and the Social Sciences
• Every year, the Hans Blumenberg professorship brings top-level researchers to Münster; in summer 2024 it is American philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah
• Beginning in 2025, the Campus of the Theologies and Religious Studies will be bringing together the University of Münster’s Protestant, Catholic and Islamic Theologies, as well as Religious Studies, in the city of the Peace of Westphalia
• Total funding of 31 million euros from 2019 to 2025

 

This article is from the University newspaper wissen|leben No. 5, 17 July 2024.

Further information

• “Religion and Politics” Cluster of Excellence
• Another article on the topic page: Vice-Rector Prof Monika Stoll on the Excellence Strategy
• Another article on the topic page: Guest article by “Mathematics Münster” Cluster of Excellence
• The July issue of the University newspaper as PDF (only in German)
• All issues of the university newspaper at a glance (only in German)