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The ‘Enchanted’ Island: Religion, Secularisation & Modernity in Taiwan

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C C Offline
http://theasiadialogue.com/2019/01/14/th...in-taiwan/

INTRO: There was once a time when sociologists expected religion to decline, both as a social force, and as an object of individual belief, throughout the modern world. According to the theorist Max Weber (1864-1920), society would become increasingly ‘disenchanted’ under the conditions of modernity. As it developed over the years, secularisation theory indeed became a useful tool for investigating religiosity from a variety of angles. Yet, it also became clear that religion remains, and will remain, an important aspect of social life, even as society itself modernises.

We might conclude that religion and modernity have a more complex relationship than was once supposed. Indeed, the world remains marked by a growing religious diversity—a phenomenon that is aided by the increasing ease of international travel and the proliferation of electronic media. Meanwhile, modernity itself has provided a context for the development of new religious formations. And ‘traditional’ religions have engaged with various manifestations of modernity in critical, innovative ways.

Taiwan is a good case study for exploring the social reality of religion in the modern world. It presents a different set of circumstances to the primarily Western contexts in which secularisation theory was developed; perhaps the most important difference is that religion in Taiwan has not, traditionally speaking, been exclusivistic. While it is typically the case among followers of Abrahamic faiths that one maintains a single religious affiliation, among adherents of Chinese religion, this has not been the case. In fact, the category of ‘religion’ was unknown in Chinese before the early twentieth century; this means that Taiwan enables us to consider how religious fluidity functions in modern contexts.

At the same time, Taiwan is a religiously complex society—and while much attention has been paid to how religion interacts with different facets of modernity, it is also interesting to think about what it can teach us in terms of contemporary interfaith dynamics. While Buddhism and Daoism loom large on the island, it is also home to numerous other religions. Besides Protestantism and Catholicism, these include Yiguandao, while other smaller groups have significant memberships too. And while Taiwan shares many cultural similarities with China, it is a religiously free society, unlike its neighbour. Thus, religious activity, creativity and expression can unfold in an organic fashion.

If we cast our eye to Taiwan, then, what does it tell us?

MORE: http://theasiadialogue.com/2019/01/14/th...in-taiwan/
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