THE INTERSECTION OF SECULARISM AND SPIRITUALITY: A PHILOSOPHICAL INQUIRY INTO MODERN RELIGIOUS PRACTICES IN EUROPE

Abstract

A recent International Relations (IR) study has increasingly questioned the secularism model as the framework for handling the link between religious practices in Europe, especially in the aftermath of the so-called "post-secular turn." Once believed to be a well-defined, easily recognizable institution that was mostly unrelated to politics and public life, religion is now being questioned more and more. By prominence and analyzing the various ways that the lines separating the political and religious spheres in modern religious practices become hazy, this special issue contributes explicitly to the recent challenge to secularism within IR. Our contributors examine the many facets of this important topic by posing whether the connection between politics and religion has evolved significantly in the modern, globalized era or if we are only now starting to notice a long-standing pattern. We discuss some of the parameters of the present religious and political discussion. Essential concepts like religion, secularism, secularization, and the post-secular have several and sometimes conflicting meanings that influence and are influenced by continuous debates about the connection between religion and public life. Our intention is not to impose solitary understandings to eliminate these significant points of disagreement. We want to draw attention to the areas of disagreement that are still important for our understanding (or obfuscation) of the distinctions between the religions.