Abstract
This chapter reviews definitions and concepts of religion in the context of politics. I argue that a clear-cut definition of religion in the context of politics cannot be given; it is neither possible nor necessary. Rather, I argue that religion is more than a functional element of human life and more than an ideology — it is about absolute being. In viewing religion, and particularly faith, as a form of being, ideologization can be avoided. Furthermore, I propose that it is possible to overcome violence through positive mimesis in turning to religion. The Gospel of John and mysticism are elements of a notion of religion in politics, understood as being.
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Notes
Émile Durkheim, The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life, translated by Joseph Ward Sawin (New York: The Free Press, 1947 ), 24.
A. J. H. Murray, ‘The moral politics of Hans Morgenthau’, The Review of Politics 58, no. 1 (Winter 1996 ).
Bagge Lausten and Waever, ‘In defence of religion’, 710. See also Slavoj Zizek, ‘Holding the place’, in Contingency, Hegemony, Universality-Contemporary Dialogues of the Left, ed. Judith Butler, Ernesto Laclau and Slavoj Zizek ( London: Verso, 2000 ), 315–6.
Herbert Butterfield, Christianity, Diplomacy and War ( New York: AbingdonCokesbury Press, 1954 ), 3.
René Girard, ‘Triangular desire’, in The Girard Reader, ed. René Girard and James G. Williams ( New York: Crossroad and Herder, 1996 ), 33–44.
Nick Megoran, ‘Christianity and political geography: On faith and geopolitical imagination’, The Brandywine Review ofFaith and International Affairs 2, no. 2 (Fall 2004): 42.
Miroslav Volf, Exclusion and Embrace: A Theological Exploration of Identity, Otherness, and Reconciliation ( Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1996 ).
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© 2012 Jodok Troy
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Troy, J. (2012). The Christian context: religion as being. In: Christian Approaches to International Affairs. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137030030_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137030030_3
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-34876-3
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-03003-0
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