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Religion and Politics: Historical Developments and Contemporary Transformations
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Religion and Politics: Historical Developments and Contemporary Transformations

A special issue of Religions (ISSN 2077-1444).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 May 2025 | Viewed by 11102

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Andre P. Audette

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Guest Editor
Associate Professor of Political Science, Monmouth College, Monmouth, IL, USA
Interests: the intersection of religion, race, gender, and other identity characteristics
Dr. Christopher Weaver

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Guest Editor
Associate Professor of Political Science, Northeastern State University, Tahlequah, OK, USA
Interests: public opinion; political psychology; religion and politics; identity politics
Dr. Mark Brockway

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty Fellow in Religion and Political Science, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, USA
Interests: American politics; comparative politics; religion

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The relationship between religion and politics is both dynamic and complex. Scholars have revealed ways in which individual religious beliefs and practices influence political attitudes, as well as how political movements shape the actions of religious people and institutions. In short, religion and politics often have a reciprocal relationship. Moreover, this relationship has important implications for individual liberty, civic engagement, global conflict, and human rights.

A few contemporary examples of this dynamic relationship include research on American politics that has suggested citizens will sometimes adapt their religious identities and even religious affiliation because of their partisan commitments; how politicians in Brazil must negotiate how to campaign between two major religious movements, Catholicism and Evangelicalism (and especially Pentecostalism); how, in Turkey, laïcité (secularism) is a constitutional provision, but Islam is incorporated in the public-school curriculum; the growth of Hindu nationalism in India, which has had domestic effects but has also generated tensions in international relations; and how a swath of coups in Africa have raised concerns about religious violence and violations of religious freedom.

These developments are by no means limited to modern politics. Questions about religious establishments, empire, religious violence, and conscientious objection define humanity’s politics and philosophic advances throughout all of documented human history. Figures no less than Aristotle, al-Farabi, Jesus, Confucius, Gandhi, Marx, and more have articulated normative and positive theories about politics and religion.

This Special Issue, “Religion and Politics: Historical Developments and Contemporary Transformations,” thus seeks to explore the intricacies of this reciprocal relationship through various research methods, including (but not limited to) historical or legal analysis, political theory, theological exegesis, ethnography and case studies, experiments, and large-N quantitative methods. Articles may focus on a single or multiple geographic areas, comparative theories, or global phenomena, and contributions of high-quality scholarship from any academic discipline related to the focus of the Special Issue are welcome. In assessing this relationship over time and through several different approaches, we hope to further advance the scholarly understanding of how religion affects politics and how politics affects religion.

Possible themes of interest may include, as follows:

  • Secularization and the growth or decline of religious institutions;
  • Changing or overlapping (non-)religious identities;
  • Commitments to civil or public religion;
  • The global rise in religious nationalism and fundamentalism;
  • Religion and interstate conflict or peacebuilding;
  • Attitudes and behaviors related to “culture wars” issues;
  • Colonialism and religious syncretism;
  • Religious liberty issues and the COVID-19 pandemic;
  • Challenges of defining religion in practice;
  • Historical developments in policies regarding religion;
  • Experimental manipulations of religious rhetoric;
  • Religion, migration, and international relations;
  • Multiculturalism and religious tolerance;
  • New religious movements and challenges of governance;
  • Religion and transnational environmental ethics.

We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors submit a proposed title and an abstract of 200–300 words summarizing their intended contribution. Abstracts will be reviewed by the Guest Editors for the purposes of ensuring their proper fit within the scope of the Special Issue. Please send the manuscript to the Guest Editor or to the Assistant Editor of Religions. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer review.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Andre P. Audette
Dr. Christopher Weaver
Dr. Mark Brockway
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • religion and politics
  • secularism
  • religious identities
  • law and public policy
  • political theology
  • nationalism
  • culture wars
  • religious demography

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Published Papers (11 papers)

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20 pages, 913 KiB  
Article
Religious Conversion and Political Incorporation: An Event-Based Model of Immigrant Political Socialization
by Andre P. Audette, Mark Brockway and Christopher L. Weaver
Religions 2025, 16(4), 465; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16040465 - 3 Apr 2025
Viewed by 373
Abstract
Political socialization in the United States is circuitous and influenced by numerous outside sources, including parents, teachers, and peers. Moreover, civic organizations and political parties often work directly to recruit and mobilize citizens into politics. However, many foreign-born immigrants are denied these opportunities [...] Read more.
Political socialization in the United States is circuitous and influenced by numerous outside sources, including parents, teachers, and peers. Moreover, civic organizations and political parties often work directly to recruit and mobilize citizens into politics. However, many foreign-born immigrants are denied these opportunities to acquire socialization. Immigrants are also often further overlooked or ignored by the civic and political organizations that incorporate most native-born Americans into politics. While a range of previous scholarship has sought to demonstrate and explain these disparities, few studies have examined alternative routes to political socialization or reconsidered the paradigm of incremental socialization as it applies to foreign-born populations. We argue that immigrants may instead become involved in the U.S. political system through religious conversion—a pivotal event in their lives. Using surveys of the two predominant U.S. immigrant groups, Asian Americans and Latinos, we show that religious conversion can catalyze the socialization process. Among both groups, religious conversion in the U.S. is associated with increased rates of political participation. These results suggest that immigrant socialization may follow different pathways than those of native-born populations, and that scholars should take into greater consideration the role of critical life events when modelling political socialization among foreign-born populations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religion and Politics: Historical Developments and Contemporary Transformations)
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25 pages, 1462 KiB  
Article
The Historical Transformation of the Religion–Politics Relationship in Türkiye Through the Prism of Its Media Representation During the 2023 Presidential Elections
by Emel Arık, Hakkı Akgün, Rıdvan Yücel and Fatih Yıldız
Religions 2025, 16(4), 463; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16040463 - 3 Apr 2025
Viewed by 382
Abstract
This study aims to examine how religion in Türkiye, beyond having social value, has been instrumentalized by political parties into a power dynamic and explore the role of the media in this process. Adopting an inductive approach, the study first examines how the [...] Read more.
This study aims to examine how religion in Türkiye, beyond having social value, has been instrumentalized by political parties into a power dynamic and explore the role of the media in this process. Adopting an inductive approach, the study first examines how the boundaries between religion and politics have changed over the years, despite the Republic of Türkiye being constitutionally defined as a secular state, using a qualitative historical method. Then, in order to explore the current reflections of this transformation, focus is placed on the most recent presidential election, held in 2023. News reports about a widely circulated photograph of opposition presidential candidate Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu “stepping/standing” on a prayer rug, used by Muslims for worship, during his campaign are analyzed using the critical discourse analysis (CDA) method. The findings reveal that religion has become a significant component of political strategies and propaganda tools in Türkiye. Religious values and symbols function as powerful instruments, shaping societal perceptions through political discourse. As a hegemonic apparatus, the media reproduces religious discourse in line with ideological tendencies and mediatizes religion as a political tool. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religion and Politics: Historical Developments and Contemporary Transformations)
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20 pages, 250 KiB  
Article
Religious Influences on American Public Attitudes Toward Military Action, 2008–2022
by James Guth and Brent F. Nelsen
Religions 2025, 16(4), 398; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16040398 - 21 Mar 2025
Viewed by 307
Abstract
Analysts of American politics have given only modest attention to the way religious factors shape public attitudes toward foreign policy, including the use of US military force. The Cooperative Election Studies from 2008 to 2022 provide an excellent data source for such analysis. [...] Read more.
Analysts of American politics have given only modest attention to the way religious factors shape public attitudes toward foreign policy, including the use of US military force. The Cooperative Election Studies from 2008 to 2022 provide an excellent data source for such analysis. Attitudes toward different uses of the military are well measured and the massive sample permits examination of even small ethnoreligious groups. We find that American religious groups vary greatly on overall willingness to use the military but also respond in distinctive—and predictable—ways to each type of intervention. Although religious influences differ somewhat by racial group and are partly mediated by ideology and partisanship, they often play an independent role, even under stringent statistical controls for other variables commonly found to influence public attitudes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religion and Politics: Historical Developments and Contemporary Transformations)
22 pages, 617 KiB  
Article
The Cover of the Holy Building, the Symbol of Politics: The Historical Power Rivalry over the Kiswa of the Ka‘ba
by Esra Atmaca
Religions 2025, 16(3), 358; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16030358 - 12 Mar 2025
Viewed by 984
Abstract
For Muslims, the Ka‘ba holds immense significance as the destination of pilgrimage—an obligatory act of worship—and as the direction toward which prayers are performed. The kiswa is a cover that has been placed on the Ka‘ba, the holiest place in Islam, since the [...] Read more.
For Muslims, the Ka‘ba holds immense significance as the destination of pilgrimage—an obligatory act of worship—and as the direction toward which prayers are performed. The kiswa is a cover that has been placed on the Ka‘ba, the holiest place in Islam, since the Jāhiliyya period as an expression of respect for it. Although there are some exceptions in Islamic history, it is usually changed once a year and it was woven in different colours according to the period, and finally it became a tradition to be black. The kiswa of the Ka‘ba is one of the most important religious and political symbols of Islamic history. This article analyses the role of the kiswa of the Ka‘ba in the relations between Muslim rulers in the Islamic world throughout history. From the earliest periods of Islam, the kiswa has been recognized as a symbol of legitimacy and a means of asserting control over the administration of pilgrimage. Many states, such as the Abbāsids, Mamlūks, and Ottomans, expressed or reinforced their political legitimacy among Muslims by showing their influence over the Ka‘ba through the tradition of the kiswa. In the medieval Islamic world, Muslim states or local administrators of these states especially used the kiswa as a symbol of sovereignty, thus increasing their influence in the regions they governed. Some Muslim administrators who wanted to send the kiswa to the Ka‘ba competed with each other or prevented the other from sending the kiswa to the Ka‘ba because each year only one kiswa was sent to Mecca. In this study, the position of the kiswa as a political symbol in the quest for the legitimacy of Muslim rulers in Islamic history and the historical development of this issue are discussed and analysed with examples. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religion and Politics: Historical Developments and Contemporary Transformations)
14 pages, 231 KiB  
Article
Law as a “Mystic Order”: A Critical Approach to Legal Hermeneutics from the Perspective of Mysticism
by Diego Pérez-Lasserre
Religions 2025, 16(3), 286; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16030286 - 25 Feb 2025
Viewed by 334
Abstract
This paper aims to challenge interpretivism as an inadequate approach to legal hermeneutics, offering a novel response to the issue through the lens of mysticism. We will follow the premise, developed by thinkers from the traditional philosophical canon such as Derrida, Schmitt and [...] Read more.
This paper aims to challenge interpretivism as an inadequate approach to legal hermeneutics, offering a novel response to the issue through the lens of mysticism. We will follow the premise, developed by thinkers from the traditional philosophical canon such as Derrida, Schmitt and Gadamer (among others), that every act of legal interpretation contains an apophatic dimension. However, we will delve deeper into this notion from the perspective of mysticism itself (rather than deconstructionism or hermeneutics). That is, we will approach interpretivism from a perspective different from the one usually found in the legal-philosophical canon—namely, mysticism—with the aim of understanding and illuminating some of its dimensions. Specifically, we will explore the mystical idea that, while recognizing the dynamic and vital nature of existence is essential, it is even more fundamental to orient existential vitality toward truth through an act of concentration and will. This will allow us to justify that the concept of “mystic order”, which we formulate and develop in this paper, is useful in addressing the challenges of juridical hermeneutics, as it combines conceptual rigor in approaching law (hence “order”) with the vitality, immeasurability, ineffability, and dynamism inherent in concrete reality (the “mystical” aspect). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religion and Politics: Historical Developments and Contemporary Transformations)
28 pages, 873 KiB  
Article
The Evolution of Venezuelan Evangelical Involvement in Politics: The Case of the 2024 Presidential Elections
by Fernando Adolfo Mora-Ciangherotti
Religions 2025, 16(1), 93; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16010093 - 19 Jan 2025
Viewed by 1282
Abstract
After his questionable re-election in 2018, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro Moros (NMM) began a campaign to attract the attention of evangelical leaders, apostles, prophets, pastors, and church members to secure their votes for the 2024 campaign. The main reason for this move was [...] Read more.
After his questionable re-election in 2018, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro Moros (NMM) began a campaign to attract the attention of evangelical leaders, apostles, prophets, pastors, and church members to secure their votes for the 2024 campaign. The main reason for this move was the surprising growth of the evangelical population in the country, which reached almost 30% by the end of 2023. Several independent churches and denominations accepted NMM’s invitation to meet and participate in government programs specifically targeted at evangelical churches. Despite allegations of human rights abuses, corruption, and violations of the Venezuelan constitution, some evangelicals created a narrative about NMM as the “protector of families” and as God’s chosen one to usher in a new era of prosperity for the nation. Through acts of “identificational” repentance staged at the Miraflores Palace, a contrite NMM received prophetic declarations and prayers from apostles and pastors, and the country was cleansed of curses and satanic influences. This article seeks to document, analyze, and situate these discourses in relation to contemporary theological trends, as an important case of evangelical alignment with left-wing politics in Latin America. Moreover, the article also seeks to show how these events relate to the evolution of Venezuelan evangelical involvement in national politics, particularly under 25 years of socialist governments of Hugo Chávez Frías and Nicolás Maduro Moros. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religion and Politics: Historical Developments and Contemporary Transformations)
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21 pages, 303 KiB  
Article
‘Messianic Fraternity’: Anticommunism in the General Conferences of the Latin American and Caribbean Episcopate
by Carlos Piccone-Camere
Religions 2025, 16(1), 50; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16010050 - 7 Jan 2025
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 698
Abstract
This paper analyzes the development and consolidation of anticommunist discourse in the General Conferences of the Latin American Episcopate (CELAM), from Rio de Janeiro to Aparecida. It adopts a critical perspective to examine the construction of the “messianic fraternity” myth—an ideological narrative contrasting [...] Read more.
This paper analyzes the development and consolidation of anticommunist discourse in the General Conferences of the Latin American Episcopate (CELAM), from Rio de Janeiro to Aparecida. It adopts a critical perspective to examine the construction of the “messianic fraternity” myth—an ideological narrative contrasting Christian ideals of community and redemption with Marxist principles of class struggle and revolution, which served as a central axis for the Church’s rejection of communism in Latin America. Grounded in a critical analysis of the CELAM’s final documents, this study identifies the theological, political, and social underpinnings of this stance, situating it within the historical and geopolitical dynamics that positioned the Church as a key counterforce to Marxism in the region. It also examines how anticommunist positions shaped pastoral strategies, particularly in relation to social movements like liberation theology, and reinforced an episcopal identity centered on defending Christian values against a perceived global ideological threat. This analysis highlights the Church’s internal tensions and contradictions and the broader impact of its anticommunist stance on Latin America’s sociopolitical and religious dynamics in the twentieth century. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religion and Politics: Historical Developments and Contemporary Transformations)
22 pages, 309 KiB  
Article
Mindset, Schism and the Contemporary Transformation of the Anglican Communion
by Geoffrey A Sandy
Religions 2025, 16(1), 48; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16010048 - 7 Jan 2025
Viewed by 854
Abstract
The phenomenon of mindset provides a lens to understand more clearly the reasons for, the timing of and the resulting transformation of the Anglican Communion (AC) of its schism. It has been transformed by the interaction between those of a strong conservative mindset [...] Read more.
The phenomenon of mindset provides a lens to understand more clearly the reasons for, the timing of and the resulting transformation of the Anglican Communion (AC) of its schism. It has been transformed by the interaction between those of a strong conservative mindset and those of a strong progressive mindset. The former are now in schism with those who remain in the AC. The schism is usually explained in terms of opposing doctrinal beliefs and values, which is valid as far as it goes. More fundamental is mindset because it explains why people hold these beliefs and values, which determine how they interact in society. The schism of the AC is chosen as a context or case study to which the scientific research behind mindset is applied. However, it is something that is general and fundamental, which operates in society for both the religious and secular domains. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religion and Politics: Historical Developments and Contemporary Transformations)
13 pages, 271 KiB  
Article
Judicial Training in Saudi Arabia: From an Uncodified to Codified System
by Sümeyra Yakar and Emine Enise Yakar
Religions 2024, 15(12), 1568; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15121568 - 23 Dec 2024
Viewed by 960
Abstract
The precise description of the roles and qualifications of Saudi judges (qāḍī) in the legal process assist in understanding the actual practice of jurisprudence. This paper aims to shed light on the jurisprudential procedure and the responsibilities of judges in the [...] Read more.
The precise description of the roles and qualifications of Saudi judges (qāḍī) in the legal process assist in understanding the actual practice of jurisprudence. This paper aims to shed light on the jurisprudential procedure and the responsibilities of judges in the past and present Saudi legal system. Although the Saudi judges had freedom to exercise independent reasoning in the process of evaluating cases during the uncodified period before the 2020s, they were required to follow the classical regulations that were transmitted by the previous Ḥanbalī scholars’ textual sources. On the other hand, recent codification attempts provide Saudi scholars with a kind of set of systematized traditional rules and bring standardization in final decisions. Since the rules of codification are directly derived from the main sources (the Qur’an and Sunna) of Islamic law, the Saudi legal system is supposedly governed by the traditional framework of Islamic law, and this semi-independent nature separates it from its counterparts’ dependent codified legal systems. This article elucidates the transformational process of the Saudi legal system from classical implementation to codification. In applying analytical and descriptive methods, the objective of this paper is to investigate the responsibilities and training process of the judges and the jurisprudential procedure in the Saudi legal system. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religion and Politics: Historical Developments and Contemporary Transformations)
13 pages, 1710 KiB  
Article
The Adventure of a Book That Migrated from Shirwān to Istanbul: A Study of Ḥadīth Terminology Presented to Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror
by Mustafa Yasin Akbaş
Religions 2024, 15(9), 1099; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15091099 - 11 Sep 2024
Viewed by 1027
Abstract
The science and religion policies of the states affected the types of scholars, the understanding of science, the centres of science and the styles of teaching in the regions they dominated. While Timur made Samarkand and his grandson Ulugh Beg made Herat centres [...] Read more.
The science and religion policies of the states affected the types of scholars, the understanding of science, the centres of science and the styles of teaching in the regions they dominated. While Timur made Samarkand and his grandson Ulugh Beg made Herat centres of knowledge, they tried to attract scholars to these cities. This was done by forcing the ulema to emigrate or by increasing the opportunities available to them. The Ottoman Empire, which was a candidate for the role of the central Muslim state, invited scholars to the cities under its rule, especially Istanbul. During the reign of Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror (1451–1481), one of the pioneers of this activity, many scholars came to Istanbul. As a result, renowned scholars in medicine, astronomy, mathematics and religious sciences; books in these fields; and their understanding of knowledge were transferred to the Ottoman Empire. This article analyses the still extant manuscript of the ḥadīth methodology book Qawāʻid al-usūl fī ‘ilm ḥādīth al-Rasūl, which Ibrāhīm b. ʿAlī al-Shirwānī brought to Istanbul during the reign of Fatih and presented to the Sultan. The analysis examines the method and content of the work, whether it is an original book or not and the comparison of the information contained in it with similar books, taking into account the status of the science of ḥadīth in Istanbul and the Ottoman Empire. In particular, it questions the Ottoman political approach to the reception of religious sciences and the impact of this book on Ottoman ḥadīth scholarship, as the Ottoman Empire patronised knowledge and scholars from other regions through migration. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religion and Politics: Historical Developments and Contemporary Transformations)
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14 pages, 542 KiB  
Review
Reconceptualizing Houses of Worship to Advance Comparisons across Religious Traditions
by Danielle N. Lussier
Religions 2024, 15(7), 785; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15070785 - 27 Jun 2024
Viewed by 1308
Abstract
The study of religion and politics has struggled to find concepts, methods, and approaches that advance productive comparisons of phenomena across different religious practices and traditions. Consequently, scholars who seek to understand the impact of religious practice on political outcomes across religious traditions [...] Read more.
The study of religion and politics has struggled to find concepts, methods, and approaches that advance productive comparisons of phenomena across different religious practices and traditions. Consequently, scholars who seek to understand the impact of religious practice on political outcomes across religious traditions encounter challenges in aggregating findings and advancing scholarly inquiry. A reconsideration of the role of houses of worship as an intermediary variable connecting religious practice to political outcomes yields a potentially fruitful avenue for comparative investigation. While social processes that take place within worship spaces are frequently presumed in the mechanisms linking religious variables to political outcomes, these worship spaces are generally undertheorized and overlooked within the study of religion and politics. A body of scholarship has substantiated the significance of congregational variation within the study of Christianity, yet the most commonly cited quantitative literature on religion and political participation omits discussion of this level of variation. Drawing on the shared conceptual space across worship domains from several religious traditions, this article examines houses of worship as an organizational concept that can be employed productively for theoretical and empirical analyses of religion and politics. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religion and Politics: Historical Developments and Contemporary Transformations)
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