Social scientists and policymakers argued that democratization and modernity would make religion insignificant. Timothy Shah, a senior Pew Forum fellow, contested this. He contended that religion is booming in many countries. Democracy has given religious leaders growing political influence. This has spawned "prophetic political movements."
In an interview with Mark O'Keefe, Shah explains the term “God is winning”. He discusses “prophetic politics” and reveals the relationship between religion and social change.
What do you mean by "God is winning"?
The term "God is winning" suggests a worldwide trend. Across all major religious groups, faith-based movements are gaining confidence and influence. They are rising against secular movements and ideologies. It is not just Islam that is resurgent. What is happening within Islam must be understood in a wider context. The same trend is happening in other religious communities. This is a global trend toward more politically influential religious movements.
We did not mean a common deity with a unified agenda is winning. These "God-based" movements differ from each other in profound ways. Some are violent, many are not. Some are Muslim, some are Hindu, some are Christian, some are Buddhist. They differ in their theologies, their political goals, and their political tactics.
Where do you see "God winning"?
In North and South America, sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and even in Europe and Russia, religion is enjoying growing political influence. This is more so now than perhaps any time in recent memory. In public life "God is winning" almost everywhere. Religion is not always the most dominant public force. Its political influence varies from country to country. But evidence supports that its influence is waxing in most parts of the world right now.
In some countries, this is a familiar story. Most of us know Islam is playing an increasing public role in Iran, Iraq, and the Middle East. The 2004 U.S. presidential election underscored the political clout of evangelicals. But we are less aware of Pentecostals in Latin America and Africa. Hindu nationalists in India are influential. So are Buddhist revivalists in Southeast Asia and Sri Lanka. Catholic charismatics in the Philippines are also powerful. These movements are shifting their societies' political center of gravity in a more religious direction.
You write that we are seeing more "prophetic politics." What do you mean?
Prophets are divine spokespersons. They claim to speak for God in a given situation. The decline of secular ideologies in the developing world has enhanced their authority. The perceived decline of morality in the developed world has also helped. Religious leaders over the last decades have played a "prophetic" role. Examples are Pope John Paul II, the Dalai Lama, Franklin Graham, Desmond Tutu, and Osama bin Laden. They apply what they claim are divinely authorized teachings to politics. In some cases, these prophets have commanded great authority and their influence has been decisive.
So is religion growing mostly as a haven for the poor?
This is part of the story, but not all of it. Modernization and globalization bring rapid social and moral change. This affects people all over the world, especially those who consume satellite TV and the internet. These innovations are widely welcomed. But they also create a pervasive perception that traditional ways of life are getting lost. The Pew Global Attitudes Project has identified this perception in almost every society.
One way to offset this perceived decline is to identify with religious revivalism. This dynamic is behind the support for Hindu revivalism among India's urban middle class. It is also behind urban middle-class support for Buddhist revivalism in Sri Lanka.
Combining advanced modernity and religiosity is not new. The U.S. is the most salient case. It has consistently combined intense modernity with high religiosity. Evidence suggests that both private and public religiosity have become more robust in the U.S. in recent years. Religion is showing new vitality in many places, not just among the economically insecure.
Have analysts neglected religion's role? Are they paying more attention now?
Analysts of global politics have generally sidelined religious factors. Religion's role seemed increasingly irrelevant for most of the 50-year period from the end of World War II until the new century. Scholars were not unaware of it. But they tended to believe religion was incapable of being a driving political force. They saw it as a passive throwback doomed to fade away with modernization. For example, Daniel Lerner's 1958 study cited a consensus that "Islam is absolutely defenseless" against modernity's "rationalist spirit."
In fact, none of the major world religions has been "absolutely defenseless." Most have used modernity to make fresh and sometimes successful appeals to a wide range of groups.
Nearly five years after 9/11, a shift has certainly occurred. Religion is finding its way into mainstream analysis. Major foreign policy think tanks have started to turn their attention to religion's role. Various U.S. government agencies now try to understand religion as a distinct factor in global politics. A sign of this new willingness is former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's book, The Mighty and the Almighty. She writes, "Like many other foreign policy professionals, I have had to adjust the lens through which I view the world.... Almost everywhere, religious movements are thriving."
Date: 31/12/2012 A.D 18/2/1434 H
Social scientists and policymakers argued that democratization and modernity would make religion insignificant. Timothy Shah, a senior Pew Forum fellow, contested this. He contended that religion is booming in many countries. Democracy has given religious leaders growing political influence. This has spawned "prophetic political movements."
In an interview with Mark O'Keefe, Shah explains the term “God is winning”. He discusses “prophetic politics” and reveals the relationship between religion and social change.
What do you mean by "God is winning"?
The term "God is winning" suggests a worldwide trend. Across all major religious groups, faith-based movements are gaining confidence and influence. They are rising against secular movements and ideologies. It is not just Islam that is resurgent. What is happening within Islam must be understood in a wider context. The same trend is happening in other religious communities. This is a global trend toward more politically influential religious movements.
We did not mean a common deity with a unified agenda is winning. These "God-based" movements differ from each other in profound ways. Some are violent, many are not. Some are Muslim, some are Hindu, some are Christian, some are Buddhist. They differ in their theologies, their political goals, and their political tactics.
Where do you see "God winning"?
In North and South America, sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and even in Europe and Russia, religion is enjoying growing political influence. This is more so now than perhaps any time in recent memory. In public life "God is winning" almost everywhere. Religion is not always the most dominant public force. Its political influence varies from country to country. But evidence supports that its influence is waxing in most parts of the world right now.
In some countries, this is a familiar story. Most of us know Islam is playing an increasing public role in Iran, Iraq, and the Middle East. The 2004 U.S. presidential election underscored the political clout of evangelicals. But we are less aware of Pentecostals in Latin America and Africa. Hindu nationalists in India are influential. So are Buddhist revivalists in Southeast Asia and Sri Lanka. Catholic charismatics in the Philippines are also powerful. These movements are shifting their societies' political center of gravity in a more religious direction.
You write that we are seeing more "prophetic politics." What do you mean?
Prophets are divine spokespersons. They claim to speak for God in a given situation. The decline of secular ideologies in the developing world has enhanced their authority. The perceived decline of morality in the developed world has also helped. Religious leaders over the last decades have played a "prophetic" role. Examples are Pope John Paul II, the Dalai Lama, Franklin Graham, Desmond Tutu, and Osama bin Laden. They apply what they claim are divinely authorized teachings to politics. In some cases, these prophets have commanded great authority and their influence has been decisive.
So is religion growing mostly as a haven for the poor?
This is part of the story, but not all of it. Modernization and globalization bring rapid social and moral change. This affects people all over the world, especially those who consume satellite TV and the internet. These innovations are widely welcomed. But they also create a pervasive perception that traditional ways of life are getting lost. The Pew Global Attitudes Project has identified this perception in almost every society.
One way to offset this perceived decline is to identify with religious revivalism. This dynamic is behind the support for Hindu revivalism among India's urban middle class. It is also behind urban middle-class support for Buddhist revivalism in Sri Lanka.
Combining advanced modernity and religiosity is not new. The U.S. is the most salient case. It has consistently combined intense modernity with high religiosity. Evidence suggests that both private and public religiosity have become more robust in the U.S. in recent years. Religion is showing new vitality in many places, not just among the economically insecure.
Have analysts neglected religion's role? Are they paying more attention now?
Analysts of global politics have generally sidelined religious factors. Religion's role seemed increasingly irrelevant for most of the 50-year period from the end of World War II until the new century. Scholars were not unaware of it. But they tended to believe religion was incapable of being a driving political force. They saw it as a passive throwback doomed to fade away with modernization. For example, Daniel Lerner's 1958 study cited a consensus that "Islam is absolutely defenseless" against modernity's "rationalist spirit."
In fact, none of the major world religions has been "absolutely defenseless." Most have used modernity to make fresh and sometimes successful appeals to a wide range of groups.
Nearly five years after 9/11, a shift has certainly occurred. Religion is finding its way into mainstream analysis. Major foreign policy think tanks have started to turn their attention to religion's role. Various U.S. government agencies now try to understand religion as a distinct factor in global politics. A sign of this new willingness is former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's book, The Mighty and the Almighty. She writes, "Like many other foreign policy professionals, I have had to adjust the lens through which I view the world.... Almost everywhere, religious movements are thriving."
Date: 31/12/2012 A.D 18/2/1434 H