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The End of Secularization?

From:社科报2021-10-15 18:12

In Literature, History, and Philosophy, No.4, 2021, Ronald F. Inglehart and Ye Juanli suggest that ever since the Enlightenment, the leading social thinkers have predicted that religious beliefs reflect a prescientific worldview that would gradually disappear in the modern era. More recently, this thesis has been challenged. To explain the challenges of the secularization thesis, there are two key variables, the sense of existential security and intergenerational population replacement. From a global perspective, the process of secularization has moved farthest among the most prosperous strata of secure postindustrial nations, with religiosity strongest among vulnerable populations, especially those facing survival-threatening risks. It is obvious that religion has not disappeared from the world, nor does it seem likely to do so. In the long run, however, whether religion expands or erodes depends on society.