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One religion or many?��The interconnections of secular religions

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Tamás Nyirkos

Eötvös József Research Center

University of Public Service, Budapest

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1. A few notes on terminology

  • Supposedly ’secular’ ideologies described as covertly ’religious’:

at least since the French Revolution (Condorcet: Cinq memoirs)

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  • The exact term ’SECULAR RELIGION’:

at least since 1935 (G. Stanton Ford: Dictatorship in the Modern World)

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  • Criticism: ’secular religion’ is an oxymoron

all other terms (quasi, ersatz, immanent, etc.) are just as problematic

&

their heuristic value is dubious (= superficial analogies / generalizations)

e. g. Hans Kelsen: Secular Religion: Against the Misinterpretation of Modern Social Philosophy, Science and Politics as “New Religions” (1961/2012).

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2. A few notes on history

  • 19th century: democracy as religion

nationalism as religion

socialism / communism as religion

capitalism as religion

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  • 20th century: fascism / nazism as religion

psychology / selfism as religion

ecology as religion

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  • 21st century: everything as religion

(entertainment, social media, new social movements, etc.)

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3. Some current examples

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4. Seculo-religious pluralism?

Old examples of secular religions live on:

  • democracy
  • totalitarianism
  • nationalism
  • capitalism, etc.

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= or a new, complex totality?

But also:

  • entertainment, sport, sex, beauty, selfism, AI, transhumanism
  • climate activism, veganism, woke (BLM,CRT, CGT, LGBT, QTBIPOC, etc.)

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THANK YOU!

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See also: https://nyirkos.com