Abubakirova A.

Nur-Mubarak Egyptian University of Islamic Culture, Almaty, Kazakhstan

SECULARIZATION AS THE LIQUIDATOR PROCESS OF THE ESSENCE OF RELIGIOUS BELIEFS AND VALUES IN WESTERN EUROPE

In order to give a clear explanation of the concept of “secularization” we must distinguish between the main meanings of this word according to the field of its usage:

a) Secularization is refusal from religious beliefs and forms of worship in modern societies. In this sense, this process is characterized as a global, humane and progressive trend in development. Although not listed in many dictionaries of European languages, it is the most commonly used meaning in debates on secularization in the contemporary academic environment.

b) The secularization is the process of privatization of the religion. In this sense, the process of secularization is described as a modern historical orientation and as a prerequisite for a modern liberal democratic policy [1, p. 15].

b) Secularization is the process of differentiation of secular branches (state, economy, science). In this sense, the term is interpreted as “gaining independence” from religious institutions and positions. This is the main point in classical theories based on the etymological-historical origin of medieval Christianity.

In each dictionary of the Western European languages this word is interpreted as transition of men, things, meanings, actions from ecclesiastical or religious usage to concepts which are commonly used in civil or daily life [2, p. 91]. The concepts “laicism” and “secularization” are regarded as the basic concepts of western researchers in identifying modern European culture. These two words are related to the world. The secularism is the translation of laicite in French. In its turn this word comes from the Greek word laikos. The Greek word means “national, non-sacred” and states that the origin of the world is independent from the spiritual start. Secularization comes from Latin saeculum. The meaning of which is “to go to this age, to move into this world, to become worldly”. This process demonstrates the removal of religious beliefs from all spheres of human life and non-religious orientation. The secularization of the European society began in the XVII century, which was accepted as a transition period and, after its complete realization in the twentieth century, led to the notion of “secular age” or “world stage”.

During the Reformation the European worldview has undergone radical changes. Freedom of religion appeared. Religious consciousness was separated and religious subjectivism emerged. That is what has become a major initiative of religious diversity in Europe. The Reformation has prepared the European society to consider religion in a new science perspective. Strengthening the anthropological sense of the religion, the separation of sincerity and the divine knowledge have led to the uncertainty of religious knowledge over time. Thus, Protestantism denotes the secularization of Catholicism and the educational philosophy of the New World has given rise to secularization of Protestantism. Modern worldview system based on a rational approach is a secular doctrine of liberalism. Individualism is based on this doctrine, and individual is the main value, the main criterion for all concepts. A person is regarded as the master of his consciousness. The human sphere of life does not come from high power, but from the true intelligence: genuine secular morality, true right, true liberation society, true legal state. The freedom of conscience now begins to be characterized not only by the free choice of religion, but also with the possibility of not believing in God. In the nineteenth century a complex of concepts that defines the individual, his rights and freedoms as the most important value were established.

The battle between worldly and spiritual foundations in the history of Europe has ended with this result. The secularism was individually perceived as an obscure all-sightedness, self-consciousness, and deception, and the religion was also autonomous. However, as a result of the active pressure of liberal values, religion has been abandoned in the minds of the people and has become the personality of each individual, deviating from social life. The secularization of the economy, politics, and culture began. Previously, religion has defined culture, but now culture has begun to explain religion according to its context. This situation was regarded as a religious revolution and equated to “disarmament” of religion. The individual was able to identify himself within the framework of humanistic ethics without the need for religious justification. The principle of cultural secularism, which is understood as the personalization of the worldly and spiritual foundations, is a key feature of the European civilization. French researcher André Philip says this is the only indicator that separates European continent from ancient civilizations. Pula says that all Europeans are supporters of secularism. The reason for this is that, on the basis of this structure, the government's initiative and guarantee does not mean God and religious transcendence, but that it is the acceptance of the fundamental rights and the written law between all its members and the people [3, p. 46].

At the same time, the degree of secularization of society, which is defined by the relationship between religious and secular values, varies widely in various European countries for various reasons. In Protestant variant religion has prevented the confrontation between religion and state, renouncing sacred values, changing according to the needs of a member of a secular society. Even in some countries, Protestantism has become a cornerstone of the state as a moral beginning. In societies where Catholicism remained unchanged, the secular enlightenment process has led to the escalation of the relationship between religion and church, with an interest in separating the sacral beginning from society. And this was reflected in the clash of clericalism and anticlericalism. Catholicism did not immediately lose its reputation; it played an active role in determining the values of a large part of the European society. Until 1950 the term “Vatican Europe” was used to refer to the regions where religion was prevalent. The flourishing of secularization process took place after the Second World War. The main idea of a new economic ideology was to ensure sustainable economic growth and the creation of a mass consumer society. In order to achieve this goal, it was necessary to form a new type of consumer who would not interfere with the sale of goods and services. Only secular consumer morals regardless of religious principles and norms could be guaranteed to succeed in this situation. Instead of equality between all religions in America, which is the basis of secularism, freedom of conscience in Europe has been taken as a basis. The system of freedom for the establishment of this religious or non-religious worldview has become the focal point for the post-war European community.

By asserting the pluralistic worldview the church faced a new situation. While the official European secularism has a positive attitude toward religious freedom based on human freedom in choosing a worldview, the process of actual secularism has been actively involved in disguising religious values as social norms. To survive, the Church had to adapt to the liberal principles of contemporary society, which in its turn contributed to the seclusion of the church. This process was fully described in the work of the American researcher Peter Berger in the 1960s which was about issues of secularization. According to Berger, religious diversity leads to the creation of a free “religion market”. In this case, pluralism also affects the basis of religious teaching – the major commodity in the religious market. While religious institutions are in the monopoly position in the society, the content of religion has been defined on the basis of theological tradition that is beneficial to religious leaders. Religion has always been affected by worldly influences. Nonetheless, pluralism is more influential than the dominant royal desires and class interests. Religion is no longer required. It is now regarded as a commodity in line with the attractiveness of religious content and positions. For example, in Protestantism, the secularization of theology has led to the creation of such theories as “unconscious Christianity”, “Theology of God's Death”, “Destruction of institutional religion”. In the Catholic Church, the “adjornamento” program was approved. It pointed to the modernization of the church, and its basic position was fully reflected in the decisions of the Second Vatican Cathedral (1962-1965). The cathedral modernized the church doctrine in line with the requirements of a modern society, and began the active seclusion of consciousness of Europeans. As the experience of France has shown secularism can become constitutional ideology and may be supported by the majority of its citizens and may cause religious symbols to be expelled from the public domain as a threat to national systems and national traditions.

The religion has survived the modernization process. After that, some scientists began questioning the effectiveness of the secularization process. For example, secularization for Cox only became the legend of the twentieth century, which predicted total destruction of religion, ignorance, and superstition [4, p. 135]. Lambert introduces the concept of “pluralistic secularization” in his work. The essence of this concept is to give different characteristics to the process of secularization, depending on the situation in different countries. For example, he explains the need for further secularization of confessional societies, such as Sweden, when describing the need for a de-secularization process for France, which sees secularism as a constitutional order [5, p. 43]. The most striking conclusion in Lambert's work is that “in Europe, God is not dead but not alive” [5, p. 44].

Once the forecast that religion will be completely eliminated from public life and the idea that only “civic” religion will remain have not become true, it was necessary to find the cause of this mistaken thought. Religious beliefs, which are a constant necessity of spiritual existence, cannot be separated from human beings. This is evidenced by the situation in Europe. This process, initiated under the name of “secularization” has acquired different names from scholars because of the inability to achieve the projected outcome. One of the most popular alternatives is “abandoning traditionalism”. Forming individuality by alienating religious practices from traditionally established group system, activities, church institutions, changing traditional peculiarities of Christian faith are the descriptions of the process “abandoning traditionalism” but not of the secularization.

References

1 Casanova J. Public Religions in the Modern World. – Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1994. – 330 p.

2 Smelser N. J., Baltes P. B. Secularization.The International Encyclopedia of Social and Behavioral Sciences. – Oxford: Elsevier, 2001. – 13786 p.

3 Willaime J.P. Europe et regions. Les enjeux du XXI siècle. – Fayard: Bibliotheque de culture religieuse, 2004. – 288 p.

4 Cox H. The Myth of the Twentieth Century. The Rise and Fall of Secularization, in G. Baum. The Twentieth Century. A Theoretical Overview. – New York: Orbis, 1999. – 562 p.

5 Lambert Y. A Turning Point in Religious Europe, in Journal of Contemporary Religion. – UK: Carfax Publishing Ltd., 2004. – 411 p.