The Westphalian international world order is designed on the ground of secularism where principal suggestion is the separation of religious institutions and state. But the origin of secularism is deeply rooted in the culture of Christianity
For Elizabeth, “tradition of secularism that is influential in the international relations literature emphasizes the role of Christianity, and more recently Judeo-Christianity, as the foundation for secular public order and democratic political institutions.”[1]
In private sphere of life, religious rituals are observed in a regular manner in comparison. From the country based statistics of Nation Master.com it is found that, “26.2% of total Christians attend Church services in one or more times per week. However average percentage does not show the complete picture. For instance in United States 44% of Christians attend Church services per week. The percentage of Church attendance in Nigeria is 89%, whereas in Russia it is only 2%.”[2]
From the statistics it is also clear that, Christians of former Soviet Bloc are less interested in religious affairs than West European and America Christians. From this argument we can get another concept by using constructivist method. Constructivism states norms construct and reconstruct identity. Soviet Bloc countries were the possessor of communism. Though these countries have mostly adopted democracy and capitalism, they have not relinquished the ideological spirits of communism absolutely. This reflects in their low interest about religion as communism is most often compatible with atheism.
On the other hand, West Europe and USA are the promoters of capitalism. There people are more interested in religious affair. Their socio-political and economic norms have derived from the core of Christianity. It implies that, Christian norms construct their capitalist identity, as capitalism has its origin in Christianity. It will be discussed in the later part of this chapter.
Christianity is not explicitly uttered in the political discourse of Western society, but in socio-cultural affair religious flavor pertains strongly.
Elizabeth argues,
Although sectors of Western society and culture have been partially removed from the domination of religious institutions and symbols a` la Berger, political order in the West remains firmly grounded in a common set of core values with their roots in Latin Christendom.[3]
In the world of globalization cultural globalization is a commonly used term. This cultural globalization in absolute term is controlled by the West European and American countries. They endeavor to supply their cultural norms and values (obtained from Christian ethics) in other parts of the world and in some cases they are successful also. Therefore, Christianity being wrapped by a secular blanket is attempting to control the cultural domain of politics.
[1] Elizabeth Shakman Hurd, The Politics of Secularism in International Relations op.cit., 5.
[2] Religion Statistics , “Church Attendance (most recent) by Country,” http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/rel_chu_att-religion-church-attendance (accessed June 25, 2012).
[3] Elizabeth Shakman Hurd, The Politics of Secularism in International Relations, op.cit., 6.
For Elizabeth, “tradition of secularism that is influential in the international relations literature emphasizes the role of Christianity, and more recently Judeo-Christianity, as the foundation for secular public order and democratic political institutions.”[1]
In private sphere of life, religious rituals are observed in a regular manner in comparison. From the country based statistics of Nation Master.com it is found that, “26.2% of total Christians attend Church services in one or more times per week. However average percentage does not show the complete picture. For instance in United States 44% of Christians attend Church services per week. The percentage of Church attendance in Nigeria is 89%, whereas in Russia it is only 2%.”[2]
From the statistics it is also clear that, Christians of former Soviet Bloc are less interested in religious affairs than West European and America Christians. From this argument we can get another concept by using constructivist method. Constructivism states norms construct and reconstruct identity. Soviet Bloc countries were the possessor of communism. Though these countries have mostly adopted democracy and capitalism, they have not relinquished the ideological spirits of communism absolutely. This reflects in their low interest about religion as communism is most often compatible with atheism.
On the other hand, West Europe and USA are the promoters of capitalism. There people are more interested in religious affair. Their socio-political and economic norms have derived from the core of Christianity. It implies that, Christian norms construct their capitalist identity, as capitalism has its origin in Christianity. It will be discussed in the later part of this chapter.
Christianity is not explicitly uttered in the political discourse of Western society, but in socio-cultural affair religious flavor pertains strongly.
Elizabeth argues,
Although sectors of Western society and culture have been partially removed from the domination of religious institutions and symbols a` la Berger, political order in the West remains firmly grounded in a common set of core values with their roots in Latin Christendom.[3]
In the world of globalization cultural globalization is a commonly used term. This cultural globalization in absolute term is controlled by the West European and American countries. They endeavor to supply their cultural norms and values (obtained from Christian ethics) in other parts of the world and in some cases they are successful also. Therefore, Christianity being wrapped by a secular blanket is attempting to control the cultural domain of politics.
[1] Elizabeth Shakman Hurd, The Politics of Secularism in International Relations op.cit., 5.
[2] Religion Statistics , “Church Attendance (most recent) by Country,” http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/rel_chu_att-religion-church-attendance (accessed June 25, 2012).
[3] Elizabeth Shakman Hurd, The Politics of Secularism in International Relations, op.cit., 6.