Sensing a 'second coming': An overview of new concepts in Sociology, Philosophy, Law and Theology on the re-emerging religious in private and public life

Abstract

In a number of academic disciplines, expression has been given to the recently rising awareness that the category of the religious has not disappeared from public life. What the �masters of suspicion� � Feuerbach, Marx, Nietzsche, Weber, Durkheim and Freud � had sensed was the intellectual spirit of their times and not the dawning of a broadly post-religious phase in Western/ised humanity. In different academic disciplines, this new awareness has been given expression to by means of a series of newly developed concepts. In this contribution, these developments are briefly tracked as they relate to one another. Although these formulations and discussions in some ways correspond to one another, it has not yet been undertaken to relate them to one another, which is the contribution of this article: these developments reflect, as largely parallel expressions, the recently rising awareness that the category of the religious is currently present in private and public life more so than in previous decades.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This article traces recent developments in Sociology, Philosophy, Law and Theology on the unfolding place of religion in the world currently, as a first step to bringing these disciplines into discussion with one another on this matter.Keywords: Religiosity; Post-secularism; Sociology; Philisophy; Law; Theology

Lombaard's categorical invitation for minority dissent against 'suspicion': How real is the 'religious' in post-secular context?

“…As indicated in this post-secular context, identifying the analytically available mistake or the offended rule of difference or misunderstood similarity in; ontology, concept or distinction, upholding the relationship between those oft doubted 'religious' and 'secular' social products (in postsecular and Lombaard 2014aand Lombaard , 2015dand Lombaard , 2016, is hard-pressed. Nevertheless, it is argued here that a relational analysis (that accommodates and hosts contradiction in transcendental relationships) from as far-a-field Systems theory, critical realism and post-analytic philosophy, serves well.…”

“…The post-secular analytic wing is set to challenge theory itself. As Lombaard (2016:3) comments on religion, in what is clearly a realistic assessment, it never really disappeared and is 'everywhere'. One is free to consider that when a social expression of being fails to disappear generally, any proposal that the theoretical representation of the category should dissolve is delusional.…”

“…If we need an ontological category for an ontological argument, one might consider transcendence (Bhaskar 2002a(Bhaskar :10, 178-179, 181, 2002b(Bhaskar :ix-xi, 2002c2012:xiv-xxv, 145-148) and the role of virtue (Parker 2010:215-226). For this reason, one might find it less than satisfactory that the religious should count itself privileged to deny transcendent or spiritual capital (Lombaard 2015d(Lombaard , 2016 in the secular nor should it pompously 'appear' as the only conceptual respondent for categorical prosecution, in the grander debate.…”

“…Nevertheless, in reception of Lombaard, one believes (hermeneutically) the religious category is social capital or presumed cultural loss (Lombaard 2016:2) by its presence or absence, respectively. Plainly at many levels, our psychological, epistemological, social relations (proximity even in invisibility) and identification with categories are pertinent.…”

“…An 'appearance' or 'moments' (Lombaard 2016:1) of social interaction may assist in unhaunting a conceptual ontology from static text or textual fallacy. By which text of being, existence informs us alethically (Bhaskar [1975(Bhaskar [ ] 2008(Bhaskar [ :xi, 19932002a:202-203, 1993, analytically and critically.…”