In many countries around the world, a contrarian behavior trend is underway. Even in countries that have low religiosity scores, religion is making its presence felt strongly. This is most pronounced in Europe.
Religiosity, a number indicating feelings or devotion to a religion, has long been on the decline in many European countries. According to the Pew Research Center, which has been studying religiosity across Europe for many years, non-practicing Christians (defined as those who identify as Christians but attend church services per year Some don’t come more than once) make up the largest part of the population. across the region. In every country except Italy, they outnumber Christians who attend church (who attend religious services at least once a month). The declining importance of religion is confirmed by a study by the Benedict XVI Center for Religion and Society at St. Mary’s University, London. According to this study, the proportion of young adults (aged 16–29) with no religious affiliation is 91% in the Czech Republic, 80% in Estonia and 75% in Sweden. In the UK and France, the proportion is 70% and 64%, respectively. This declining trend of religiosity has been going on for a very long time.
But the book Saving the People: How Populists Hijack Religion, edited by Olivier Roy, highlights an opposite trend. According to this, religion has gained emphasis in politics, the media and everyday life in many countries in recent years. One can understand the emergence of religion-oriented populists in countries such as Poland, the US and Israel, where religiosity scores are relatively high. But how do we explain the increased role of religion in countries such as Britain, France, Italy, Austria and the Netherlands, where those scores are extremely low? This suggests that religion is a significant factor of influence even among agnostics.
Many countries around the world are experiencing a new wave of right-wing populism that seeks to mobilize religion for self-interest. The main strategy of populists is to use religion to separate the population into good ‘us’ and bad ‘them’. These political parties paint a picture of a happy past which they want to restore. They make a deep appraisal of the past: What went wrong? Who’s to blame? And what should be done to reverse the situation? The call for restoration of the past is often accompanied by a call for ‘fight’. This fight is clearly against evil ‘others’, members of other religions.
What these populists are playing is an age-old tribal game. To reinforce the in-group, they create an overloaded environment with fear of the outsider. In Europe, populist political parties are flourishing among the majority Christian population by creating fear of Muslim immigrants. Under passionate circumstances, the core teachings of Christianity about love not only for one’s neighbor but also for enemies are easily forgotten. Religion is only used as a marker of identity. These attempts to use religious identity to differentiate themselves from people belonging to other religious groups can have significant consequences for an economy less than a society.
Trust, more so of strangers, is at the core of many economic activities. Social interaction and exchange would be nearly impossible without at least one trust. Social capital cannot be created without trust. Gitel Ross and Vidal Avis, authors of Organizing Community: Building Social Capital as a Development Strategy, remind us that social capital includes both bonding social capital and bridging social capital. The first type occurs within a group or community, while the second occurs between classes defined by social groups, religions or other important socio-demographic or socioeconomic characteristics. Bonding capital helps us maintain our current position, whereas bridging social capital is associated with the actual advancement of one’s position.
When religion is used only as an identification mark, the relationship to social capital within a group can improve. But isolating oneself on the basis of one’s religious identity would affect relationships with adherents of other religions, and so one would need to bridge social capital to move beyond a point.
This aspect is important for a country like India. Many religions originated in India, while other religions have been well established for thousands of years. Religion is seamlessly integrated into every aspect of Indian life. Any attempt to discriminate on the basis of religious identity will only weaken India by reducing the social capital of the country.
Attempts to use religion only as an identification mark, resulting in a reduction in the pulling capital of society, can be best countered by religion itself. Following the core beliefs of the religion will go a long way in building better relationships with members of other religions. A good example of this strategy comes from Pope Francis. When populist political leaders in Europe were using Christian religious identity to differentiate people from Syrian Muslim immigrants, Pope Francis issued an encyclopedia, Fratelli Tutti (All Brothers), which taught Christians a love for neighboring religion. More so, the need for fraternity and social friendship.
Religion is a powerful medium of social change. Whether it is used as a bridge to divide society or to increase the social capital of a country, it is a choice that will determine the quality of our future.
Biju Dominic is Chief Promoter, Fractal Analytics and President of FinalMile Consulting