Habermas Translation: The Dialectic of Secularization (pt 1)
Since there seems to be some interest in a translation of this essay by Habermas, I’ve decided to go ahead and translate the first section. For the record, I don’t consider myself anywhere near fluent in German, so read with caution. And perhaps folks who do read German could compare what’s below the fold with the original. any mistakes folks find will be learning experiences for me. Past this, I’ve inserted paragraph numbers for ease of discussion and comparison.
[1] The Bishop of Cantebury advises British legislators to adopt portions of the Shari’a family law for resident Muslims; President Sarkozy sends an additional 4000 Police officers to the notoriously beleaguered Banlieues of Paris, where young Algerians riot; a fire in Ludwigshafen, in which nine Turks, including four children, perished, inspires distrust and outrage in the Turkish media — in spite of there being no known cause of the fire; During his trip to Germany, the Turkish Prime Minister visits the site of the fire, after which his unhelpful appearance in Köln released an equally shrill echo from the German press. All these current events occurred during a single weekend this year. They Document the degree to which the solidarity and cooperation [among groups] within allegedly secular societies is endangered — and how urgently the [following] question presents itself: whether, and in what senses, we have a secular state, as wells as what to do in the meantime with a post-secular one.
[2] In order to be able to speak of a ‘post-secular’ society, [however,] one must have found oneself in a prior, ’secular’ condition. This controversial expression can therefore only be applied to affluent European societies, or to countries like Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, where the religious ties among citizens have been continually relaxed since the end of the Second World War. It is widely held by individuals in these regions that they live in a secular society. Measured by the usual religio-sociological indicators, the religious attitudes and beliefs of [their] resident populations have not changed in a manner that could justify the use of the label ‘Post-Secular.’ Also, here in Germany, the trends towards de-ecclesiasticalization [Entkirchlichung] and towards new spiritual forms of religiousity cannot offset the tangible losses suffered by of the great religious communities.
[3] Nevertheless, global changes and widely visible conflicts, which today ignite religious questions, inspire misgivings in Religion’s ostensible loss of relevance. The long unchallenged thesis of Sociology, i.e. that there is a intimate connection between the modernization of society and the secularization of its populace, finds ever fewer adherents. This thesis is based upon the following three plausible considerations:
[4] Technical and scientific development promotes, first, an anthropocentric understanding of the ‘disenchanted’ — because causally explainable — world of relations [Weltzusammenhänge]; and a scientifically clarified consciousness does not easily accord with, or accept theocentirc or metaphysical images of the world. Second, as Churches and religious institutions lose access to the subsystems of law, politics and social welfare, culture, education and science in the course of their functional differentiation, they limit themselves to their genuine function of maintaining holy goods [Verwaltung von Heilsgütern], [thus] making religious practices more or less a private affair, which forfeits any social significance. Finally, the transformative development of agrarian societies into industrial and post-industrial ones has generally brought about a higher level of prosperity [Wohlstandsniveau], and an increased social security; with the relief of social safety nets [Lebensrisiken] and increasing existential security, the individual’s need for a praxis that promises to master all uncontrollable contingencies by communicating with an ‘Otherworldly’ or cosmic power recedes.
[5] Although it appears to be confirmed by affluent European societies, the secularization thesis has been under attack for over two decades in sociological circles [Fachöffentlichkeit]. The discourse of “The End of Secularization Theory,” which in keeping with the not completely unfounded criticism of a eurocentrically limited perspective, is now prevalent. The USA, which was long considered to be an exception to the trend of secularization because of the unaltered vitality of its religious denominations and constant percentage of religiously committed and active citizens, nonetheless now constitutes the vanguard of modernization. Today, and from the globally expanding perspective on other cultures and religions, it appears as the normal case. From this revisionist perspective, European development, whose western rationalism ought to be the model for the rest of the world, turns out to be the actual Sonderweg [here's a wikipedia note on this term for folks who are unfamiliar with it].
