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Religious nationalism can be understood in a number of ways, such asnationalism as a religion itself, a position articulated byCarlton Hayes in his textNationalism: A Religion, or as the relationship ofnationalism to a particularreligious belief,dogma,ideology, or affiliation. This relationship can be broken down into two aspects: thepoliticisation of religion and the influence of religion onpolitics.[1]
In the former aspect, a shared religion can be seen to contribute to a sense ofnational unity, a common bond among the citizens of thenation. Another political aspect of religion is the support of anational identity, similar to a sharedethnicity, language, or culture. The influence of religion on politics is moreideological, where current interpretations of religious ideas inspirepolitical activism and action; for example, laws are passed to foster stricter religious adherence.[2]
Ideologically-driven religious nationalism may not necessarily be targeted against other religionsper se, but can be articulated in response tomodernity and, in particular,secular nationalism. Indeed, religious nationalism may articulate itself as the binary of secular nationalism. Nation-states whoseborders are relatively recent or that have experiencedcolonialism may be more prone to religious nationalism, which may stand as a more authentic or "traditional" rendering of identity. Thus, there was a global rise of religious nationalism in the wake of the end of theCold War, but also aspostcolonial politics (facing considerable developmental challenges, but also dealing with the reality of colonially defined, and therefore somewhat artificial, borders) became challenged. In such a scenario, appealing to a national sense of Islamic identity, as in the case of Pakistan (seetwo-nation theory), may serve to override regional tensions.
The danger is that when the state derivespolitical legitimacy from adherence to religious doctrines, this may leave an opening to overtly religious elements, institutions, and leaders, making the appeals to religion more 'authentic' by bringing more explicitly theological interpretations to political life. Thus, appeals to religion as a marker of ethnicity create an opening for more strident and ideological interpretations of religious nationalism. Many ethnic and cultural nationalisms include religious aspects, but as a marker of group identity, rather than the intrinsic motivation for nationalist claims.
Buddhist nationalism is mainly prevalent and influential inSri Lanka andMyanmar, and is also present inCambodia andThailand.[3]
Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism is a political ideology that combines a focus on Sinhalese culture and ethnicity with an emphasis on Theravada Buddhism, which is the majority belief system of the Sinhalese in Sri Lanka.
ThePatriotic Association of Myanmar and969 movement have the goal to "organise and protect" the Burman people and their Buddhist religion, which is influenced by Buddhist nationalism in Myanmar.
Christian nationalists focus more on internal politics, such as passing laws that reflect their view of Christianity. In countries with astate Church, Christian nationalists, in seeking to preserve the status of aChristian state, uphold anantidisestablishmentarian position.[4][5][6] They actively promote religious (Christian) discourses in various fields of social life, from politics and history to culture and science; with respect to legislation for example, Christian nationalists advocateSunday blue laws.[7] Distinctive radicalized forms of religious nationalism orclerical nationalism (clero-nationalism or clerico-nationalism) were emerging on the far-right of the political spectrum in various European countries especially during the interwar period in the first half of the 20th century.[8]
Given the extensive linguistic, religious, and ethnic diversity of the Indian population,[15] nationalism in India in general does not fall within the purview of a solitary variant of nationalism. Indians may identify with their nation on account ofcivic,[16]cultural, orthird-world nationalism. Commentators have noted that in modernIndia, a contemporary form ofHindu nationalism, orHindutva, has been endorsed by theBharatiya Janata Party andRashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.[17]
Hindutva (meaning "Hinduness"), a term popularised by Hindu nationalistVinayak Damodar Savarkar in 1923, is the predominant form of Hindu nationalism in India.[18] Hindutva is championed by right-wing Hindu nationalist volunteer organisationRashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), widely regarded as the rulingBharatiya Janata Party's parent organisation, along with its affiliate organisations, notably theVishva Hindu Parishad.
Unlike thesecular form ofnationalism which is espoused in most other countries,Pakistani nationalism is religious in nature, consisting of Islamic nationalism. Religion was the basis of the Pakistani nationalist narrative. (seeSecularism in Pakistan)[19] Pakistani nationalism is closely associated with Muslim heritage, the religion of Islam, and it is also associated withPan-Islamism, as it is described in theTwo-nation theory. It also refers to the consciousness and the expression of religious and ethnic influences that help mould the national consciousness.Pakistan has been called a "global center forpolitical Islam".[20]
Hamas is a party which mixesPalestinian nationalism withIslamism.
Ahrar al-Sham,Jaysh al-Islam and Other Rebel Groups mixSyrian nationalism withIslamism
Jaish ul-Adl mixesBaloch nationalism withIslamism.
TheTaliban's ideology combinesIslamism withPashtunwali andAfghan nationalism
SomaliIslamist movementAl-Shabaab incorporatesSomali religious nationalism andanti-imperialism into itsSalafi Jihadist ideology.[21][22]
Religious Zionism is an ideology that combinesZionism andOrthodox Judaism. Before the establishment ofthe State of Israel, most Religious Zionists were observant Jews who supported Zionist efforts to rebuild aJewish state in theLand of Israel. After theSix-Day War, and the capture of theWest Bank, right-wing supporters of the Religious Zionist movement integrated themselves into Israeli nationalism and they eventually founded a new movement which evolved intoNeo-Zionism, the ideology of Neo-Zionism revolves around three pillars: the Land of Israel, the People of Israel, and the Torah of Israel.[23]
Paganism resurfaces as a topic of fascination in 18th to 19th-century Romanticism, in particular in the context of the literary Viking revivals, which portrayed historical Celtic,Slavic andGermanic polytheists as noble savages.
Romanticist interest in non-classical antiquity coincided with the rise of Romantic nationalism and the rise of the nation state in the context of the 1848 revolutions, leading to the creation of national epics and national myths for the various newly formed states. Pagan or folkloric topics were also common in the musical nationalism of the period.[24][25]
Organisations such as theArmanen-Orden represent significant developments in neo-pagan esotericism andAriosophy afterWorld War II, but they do not all constitute forms of Nazi esotericism. Somenorthern Europeanneopagan groups, such asTheods,Ásatrúarfélagið, andViðartrúar, have explicitly stated thatneo-Nazism is not common among their members.
The "State Shinto" term was used to categorize, and promote,Imperial Japanese practices that relied onShinto to support Japan's nationalistic ideology.[26]: 133 [27]: 97 By refusing to ban Shinto practices outright,Japan's post-war constitution was thus able to preserve full freedom of religion.[26]: 133
TheKhalistan movement is aSikhseparatist movement seeking to create a homeland for Sikhs by establishing asovereign state, calledKhālistān ('Land of theKhalsa'), in thePunjab region.[28] The proposed state would consist of land that currently formsPunjab, India.[29]
In theKorean peninsula, theDonghak movement and its leader,Choe Je-u, were inspired byKorean Catholic missionaries. However, they condemned the 'Western learning' preached by missionaries and contrasted it with the indigenous 'Eastern learning'. They started arebellion in 1894 inJeolla province in southwestern Korea. TheDonghak movement served as a template for the laterDaejonggyo andJeungsan-gyo movements, as well as for other religious nationalist movements. TheBuddhist-influencedDaejonggyo movement financed guerillas inManchuria duringJapanese colonial rule of both Korea and Manchuria. TheNorth Korean state ideology,Juche, is sometimes classified as a religion in theUnited States Department of State's human rights reports.[30]
Christian nationalism demands Christianity be privileged by the State...
As against both Christian nationalists who wanted an established church and French-republican-style secular nationalists who wanted a homogenous public square devoid of religion, Dutch pluralists led by Kuyper defended a model of institutional pluralism or "sphere sovereignty."
Major religions in the past, especially Christianity, have attempted to include all their adherents in a large union, but they have not been successful. Throughout most of the Middle Ages in Western Europe, attempts were made again and again to unite all the Christian world into a kind of Pan-Christianity, which would combine all Christians in a secular-religious state as a successor to the Roman Empire.
Throughout the better part of the Middle Ages, elaborate attempts were made to create what was, in effect, a Pan-Christianity, an effort to unite "all" the Western Christian world into a successor state of the Roman Empire.
Zia ul-Haq is often identified as the person most responsible for turning Pakistan into a global center for political Islam. ...
Media related toReligious nationalism at Wikimedia Commons
