Suchergebnisse

The Conseil d'Etat and secularism. The advice rendered on 27 november 1989
The 27 November 1989 advice of the French Conseil d'Etat on the problem concerning secularism raised by a few Muslim girls who came to school with their hair hidden by a scarf signifies a two-fold shift : concerning the expertise function of the Conseil d'Etat, and concerning the meaning of secularism. The author identifies their expressions and seeks to show the issues and the consequences brought up by this double shift.

THIS ARTICLE IS A REVISED AND EXPANDED VERSION OF A PAPER PRESENTED AT THE SOCIALIST SCHOLARS CONFERENCE IN APRIL 1989. THE PAPER REPRESENTS A TRANSITION IN SAMIR AMIN'S WORK FROM A CONCENTRATION ON ECONOMIC RELATIONS AND STRUCTURES TO A NEW FOCUS ON CULTURAL, INTELLECTUAL, AND EPISTEMOLOGICAL PROBLEMS. IT OFFERS A REVIEW OF AMIN'S BOOK AND AN EXTENDED ARGUMENT OF MOGHADAM'S ON PROBLEMS ARISING FROM THE INDISCRIMINATE REJECTION OF MODERNITY, SECULARISM, AND MARXISM

RECENT EVENTS IN THE MUSLIM WORLD HAVE FUELED THE ILLUSION THAT ALL SECULARIZING EFFORTS ARE DOOMED TO FAILURE, WHICH IS AT VARIANCE WITH BOTH THE FACTS OF HISTORY AND WITH PRESENT REALITIES. IT IS OBVIOUSLY TRUE THAT MUSLIM SOCIETIES HAVE ENCOUNTERED OBSTACLES IN THEIR SECULARIZING EFFORTS, AND SOMETIMES HAVE EVEN BEEN FORCED TO SHIFT THEIR COURSE. SECULARIZATION HAS ALSO KNOWN ITS DISCONTINUITIES AND CAESURAE, SUCH AS ENDED WITH THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE ISLAMIC REGIME IN IRAN, AND THERE WILL PROBABLY BE OTHERS IN THE FUTURE. BUT THE GENERAL FACT REMAINS. THOUGH SPORADIC REVERSALS MAY TAKE PLACE AT THE SURFACE, THE PROCESS OF SECULARIZATION CONTINUES ITS NORMAL COURSE. CONTEMPORARY MODELS, EVEN MANY OF THOSE THAT EXPLICITLY PROCLAIM THEMSELVES ISLAMIC, ARE STRIKING EXAMPLES OF THIS DEEP-SEATED PROCESS.

There is little doubt that for many in the church catholic the traditional understanding of evangelization, that is, conversion to Jesus Christ, has become problematic. This is particularly apparent in the world-wide missionary enterprise where there has come to be a greater concentration upon service, that is, calling men to accept western man's aid, and a declining confidence in one's right to call men to repentance that is, calling men to accept western man's Christ. It is, however, also apparent in the American church where a "new" theology is urging it to see that the primary responsibility of Christians is to work with God in the world for the liberation of men from political, economic, and social tyrannies. In both cases a "new" theological understanding of evangelization, and thus conversion, has been introduced into the church.

THIS ARTICLE OUTLINES THE ADOPTION OF NATIONAL SECULARISM IN PLACE OF RELIGOUS RULE IN TURKEY. THE AIM OF THIS WAS TO CREATE A MODERN, RATIONAL STATE WITH INSTITUTIONS AND LAWS WHICH WOULD FACILITATE THE DEVELOPMENT OF CAPITALISM IN TURKEY. TURKISH SOCIETY AS YET UNDIFFERENTIATED IN TERMS OF CLASSES AND DEPRIVED OF OTHER MEANS OF EXPRESSING DISAFFECTION BY THE SINGLE REGIME, TENDED TO USE ISLAMIC DISCOURSE TO CHALLENGE THE LEGITIMACY OF THE STATE. THE STATE RESPONDED BY LIMITING THE SPACE IN WHICH THIS DISCOURSE TOOK PLACE BY EXTENDING SECULAR LAWS AND BECOMING MORE AND MORE MILITANT AGAINST ISLAM.