Religious Identity and its Indicators According to Post-modern Social Thinkers

Document Type : .

Authors

1 PhD student in Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Tehran

2 Associate Professor, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Tehran

Abstract

In the world of social and political thought today, one of the most important issues is the religious existence of people in the post-modern world. And this shows itself in research issues and political and social writings. So that some postmodern thinkers believe that the vast majority of people in the world are still with some kind of religion and practice it, and religious identification and practice is often a strong predictor of people's attitudes and actions.
The concept of religious identity is formed from the connection of two important and social concepts of identity and religion, both of which, as well as the word religious identity itself, have undergone conceptual development in the thinking of thinkers. which we discussed in this research.
The concept of religious identity is recently used in the social and political thought of liberal societies, and the main research question is how post-modern thinkers look at religious identity? In response, the evolution of thinking in the perception of religion and identity and the creation of the concept of religious identity in close connection with who I am and what I believe were discussed.
In this article, after introducing the scientific activities carried out according to the topic of the article, the conceptual development of identity, religion and religious identity has been examined. Then the indicators and dimensions of religious identity have been examined from the point of view of postmodern thinkers. In the following, the process of formation, promotion and continuation of religious identity has been investigated. After that, the challenge of religious identity with other social identities has been taken into consideration.
In the last two sections, the important issue of religious identity politics is raised, which leads to the criticism of postmodern thinkers' views on religious identity.
In examining the two concepts of identity and religion, the attitude of social thinkers towards these two concepts has changed, and in this article, attention has been paid to the evolution of the meaning of these two concepts from the perspective of thinkers. and the indicators and how to evaluate religious identity by thinkers have been discussed
Due to the changing view of religion and the concept of identity, religious identity has also manifested itself, and after some time has passed, implicitly and according to real examples in the social arena, its influence on politics has also been criticized and analyzed by the thinkers of the societies. It is liberal.
The noteworthy point is the dynamics of religious identity, which is inevitable due to the process of seeing religious identity, and it is necessary to evaluate the way religious identity is formed and continued. The need to pay attention to this comes from the influence and spread of influence in different layers of social action by religious groups in reality, which has inevitably led thinkers to criticize and analyze this social reality. On the other hand, religious education among the young generations of America and Europe is a surprising issue for thinkers, who inevitably mention the survival of religious identity among the multitude of its real enemies in the tools and cultures of prosperous and liberal societies.
Some thinkers give religion a greater role in influencing identity in the modern and post-modern world in the macro and medium social arena. Because religion creates the possibility of a lot of order in societies without spending money, and this causes religious identity to take precedence over other social identities. Another reason for the priority of religious identity is the organization and extent of support and creating a spirit of convergence among members, which can easily create homogeneity with other identities, especially ethnic and national identities. And this compatibility with the same group and otherness with the other makes him look for his lost honor and dignity. This is the basis for Fukuyama's thought to analyze the direct and indirect effects of religion in politics.
What is being discussed today as identity politics among intellectuals is the result of the fact that religion influences politics and laws in European and American societies. And one of the most important concerns of thinkers in all texts is related to the identity politics of Muslim groups in these societies. For this reason, the main concern of the concept of identity politics has a religious basis, and in fact, one of the basic issues that make up the concept of identity politics is religious identity politics.
But in criticizing the opinions of thinkers of liberal societies about religious identity, several points are important. First, they have a backward view of religious identity and evaluate what is seen in social practice with liberal glasses. This view is far from empathetic view and introspective observations, and of course, it does not give a correct assessment of religious identities.
Thinkers consider objectivity and subjectivity in cultural and social aspects of religious identity and consider indicators of affection, awareness and commitment. It is considered a process of seeing, survival, continuity and precedence of religious identity along with other social identities due to the regularity with the special coherence of religious identity, and what is the main concern of identity politics is the widespread social manifestation of religious identity, which can be called the concern of religious identity politics.
It is necessary to examine the texts and reality of each religion and its relationship with its own values and the values of liberal societies regarding religious identity, religion and what appears in the behavior of religious groups should be separated and then its results should be evaluated in liberal societies.
In reviewing the religious identity, it is necessary to evaluate the essential identity indicators of the main texts and the laws of each religion, the attention and behavior of religious groups with regard to the essential values and the values of the societies that support the presence of the groups, and then analyze the extent and indicators of the religious identity of the religious groups, and the angles Different effects can be seen.

Keywords


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