Well, I am finally turning to the study of religion. I have been engrossed in studies of sexuality, biology, and evolution, but now it’s time to move ahead. I will be doing a directed studies course next semester, and so I have started to dig into some of the material that I will be covering. I will also be studying Christian ethics, which will no doubt prove to be a very interesting avenue.
Please note that the lack of entries over the past semester does not in anyway reflect a lack of engagement with my studies, quite the contrary actually. Well, I guess it does, sort of, because the majority of my semester was spent writing proposals, grant applications, and revising an article that was accepted for publication. I did manage get some reading done though. I will list some of the readings soon.
Anyway, today’s reading was an introduction to the study of religion. Here is the reference:
Preus, J. Samuel. Explaining Religion: Criticism and Theory from Bodin to Freud. Yale University Press, 1987.
Part 1 Religion as a Problem
Chapter 1 Conflict, Contradiction, and Impasse: Jean Bodin
This chapter refers to Bodin’s Colloquium to introduce three major themes in the study of religion. These are:
1. truth, rationality, objective knowledge
2. the role of religion in public realm (politics)
3. the expression of religion in personal lives and behaviours
According to Bodin, truth is external and transcendental to religious expression, is harmonious with reason, and is grounded in nature.
Although all religions defile truth in some way, religions are necessary to the peaceful operations of society. Religious pluralism can extend social harmony to private sphere by granting autonomy to individuals to decide their own positions. A pure heart–honesty, sincerity, and integrity–are a more acceptable route to salvation than truth or religion (because truth is debatable and construed differently in the vast array of religions).
While this is a very interesting and accessible introduction to the study of religion, I cannot help but wonder: what is the role of power? I suppose a turn to Foucault is in order here, but I want to think about this on my own first. Clearly, what is at issue are social-organizing practices and the state of power distribution within social structures. If religion is a utility driven phenomena, then who or what is behind it? We could perhaps turn to evolutionary ideas about the role of social structures for survival, but for the moment, that seems a little too cold and sterile of a response (though it may ultimately be true). I think we have to look at some of the very personal implications of religion. What does it mean in the day-to-day lives of practitioners? I’m sure there is lots of literature on this, but I want more than an academic study. What does it mean personally, experientially, anecdotally? I think that is where I need to look for the moment.
