Research of religion in the context of modern secularisation: search for an approach

Abstract

The article examines some issues in the scientific debate about modern secularisation and post-secularity, which has been going on recently among Russian researchers of religion. As a participant in this discussion, the author accepts the discussed thesis about the need to revise some previous interpretations of religion and form new methodological guidelines that correspond to the real state of religious communities in the modern world. At the same time, the article criticises the use of references to the judgments of authoritative foreign researchers as a convincing argument to prove the reality of the so-called post-secular society. The author acknowledges that the idea of postsecularity can be one of the elements of scientific discourse about the modern transformation of religions. But this idea is not convincing when compared with refined theories of secularisation, that even today have sufficient empirical evidence. Turning to methodological issues, the author proposes a number of hypothetical provisions regarding the research approach to the modern state of religion. Particular attention is paid to two situations. The first of them, according to the author, is the determining influence on religious organisations of a modern secular state - in these conditions, the religious life of society is forced to integrate into state policy, becoming subordinate to the main goals of this policy. Therefore, the study must take into account, first of all, the secular context of the existence of religious associations. The second situation is related to the first; it consists in the marginalisation of the doctrinal content of religions and its noticeable replacement by external confessional markings as a sign of civic identity, with the diffusion of the doctrinal foundations of religious traditions. The author concludes that due to secularisation, the religious environment, either forced or willing, masters the languages of secular culture and politics, speaks these languages and therefore becomes more understandable - not only for researchers, but also for itself. For a scientific approach, this opens up the prospect of understanding the secular existence of religions.