Theorizing Desecularization of the Military: The United States and Israel

Abstract

This article addresses scholarly deficiencies in identifying the conditions under which the desecularization of militaries takes place. To theorize this process, two militaries are studied, the United States and Israel. Arguably, six drivers sequentially generate the desecularization of the militaries: (1) Militaries largely mirror the growing influence of religion in the broader society. However, intramilitary drivers play their role in promoting/mitigating the extra-military mechanisms of desecularization. Thus, (2) organizational interests along with external constraints drive militaries to promote religious diversity, which may (3) lead to the empowerment of religious actors, and thereby to further desecularization through religious intolerance, and to (4) reliance on the spiritual and religious services provided by military chaplains, and jointly stimulate (5) the use of religion to motivate military sacrifice. By religiously increasing the symbolic value of military sacrifice, (6) religiosity becomes more naturally associated with good soldiering, thereby reshaping intramilitary hierarchies and, hence, further triggering desecularization.

Military and Religion

“…Third, religiosity is reinterpreted and militarily harnessed, and thus morphs into multiple forms of military-religion. Although this chapter has not engaged with the debate about whether militaries become more or less desecularized, it is safe to conclude that the more military-religion morphs into multiple forms, thereby expanding its domains of influence, the higher the level of desecularization of the military (Levy 2020).…”

“…No less significant a challenge is framing the kinds of knowledge expected to be produced. It may take three main forms: (1) empirical-analytic knowledge that typifies most of the studies undertaken and cited in this chapter, such as that pertaining to chaplains; (2) cultural-hermeneutic knowledge that relies on interpretive methods, such as the endeavor to interpret the meanings of social actions, as conducted by Braender (2009); (3) critical theory aimed at exposing the constraining structures of power, in this case, for example, by showing how militaryreligion is used to legitimize aggressiveness (Levy 2020). The challenges lie ahead.…”

“…As part of this process, religious institutions and movements try to reinforce their relationships with the military. However, this chapter will not engage with the debated issue about the extent to which militaries became more or less desecularized (or religionized) (see Levy 2020); desecularization comprises a strengthening of religious elements in the military's culture, symbols, ethics, and conduct (p. 3).…”

Analyzing the Institutional Transformation of Armed Forces: A Proposal for a Holistic Theoretical Framework

“…Kurumsal dönüşümü feminizm çerçevesinde inceleyen bir çalışma (Duncanson ve Woodward, 2016), kadınların orduya katılımıyla nasıl bir kurumsal değişim olabileceği üzerinde durmuştur. Dinin münferit asker ve kurumsal kimliğe etkisini inceleyen başka bir çalışma (Levy, 2020) ise, din ile askeri manevi değerler arasında kurulan ilişkinin, farklılıklara saygının ve toleransın dinin dönüştürücü etkisini arttırdığına işaret etmiştir.…”

The Expansion of Post-Secular Influence by Christian Denominations Such as Christian Zionists

“…De-secularization affects international relations and global strategies. Yagil Levy (2018) argue that since the 1970s, partial de-secularization of American politics has begun with the growing ties between evangelical churches, Republican party and neo-conservatives and this policy strengthened with promotion of aggressive foreign policy.…”