GVPT 210 - third reading 9/17/25 reversing secularization - why god is winning article
Prophetic Politics: Core Idea
Global politics is increasingly marked by what could be called a prophetic or pro-prophetic politics, where voices claiming transcendent authority fill public spaces and win key political contests.
Religion is booming worldwide, and its influence can decide elections and shape policy debates, not fade away as globalization and freedom spread.
The field of political struggle now spans democratic elections and the contest for global public opinion, with religious groups becoming more competitive across both arenas.
The core claim: democracy provides a voice, but the consequences are that people will talk about God and divine intervention more openly.
Concrete Examples of the Trend
After Hamas won a decisive victory in January’s Palestinian elections, a supporter replaced the national flag over parliament with Hamas’s emerald green banner proclaiming: "There is no god but god, and Mohammed is his prophet."
In Washington, US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice noted that few expected a religious party to take power there.
Days after the prophet’s banner appeared in Ramallah, thousands of Muslims demonstrated in defense of the Prophet’s honor in Beirut, Jakarta, London, and New Delhi, sparked by Danish cartoons depicting Mohammed. Demonstrations, boycotts, and embassy attacks followed.
These events, while dramatic, were the latest expressions of a deep, decades-long current toward a pro-prophetic politics that uses religious authority to shape public life.
Key Concepts and Theoretical Frame
Pro prophetic politics: movements that claim transcendent or divine authority to guide public life and political decisions.
Field of battle: political contest can be fought in democratic elections or in shaping global public opinion; religious groups increasingly compete in both.
After contest, faith tends to prevail over the secular when choices are made, suggesting that God is on a winning streak.
Neo-orthodoxy: a trend where modern religious movements deploy sophisticated organizational structures and technologies to recruit, deliver social services, and press agendas in the public sphere.
Religious movements can be more organized, more popular, and more legitimate through democratic processes, yet they may still be violently opposed to nonbelievers or nonadherents.
Historical Trajectory: What the Narrative Claims
The claim that religion’s rise is a new phenomenon is challenged by a longer history of religious activism shaping politics. Examples cited include:
The 1966 Time magazine cover asking, "Is God dead?" which signaled secular dominance in mid-1960s world politics. The next year (1967) saw Nasser’s secular Arab nationalism suffer a humiliating defeat by Israel.
By the late 1970s, Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini, US President Jimmy Carter, televangelist Jerry Falwell, and Pope John Paul II were prominent global figures shaping religion and politics.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, solidarity movements and religious groups contributed to the rollback of atheistic Soviet influence and the defeat of atheistic communism in Eastern Europe and parts of Asia.
The rise of Islamist movements and the era’s religious clashes culminated in the post-9/11 political order with religiously inflected conflicts.
The shift away from secularism toward religious vitality is framed as a global reconfiguration influenced by modernization, democratization, and globalization.
Major Case Studies and Political Actors
Hamas in Palestinian politics: demonstrates how a religious party can gain governance legitimacy through elections.
Desmond Tutu and anti-apartheid movement: a prominent Christian leadership role in opposing authoritarian rule in South Africa.
Hindu nationalism in India: 1998 electoral success of Hindu nationalist forces; followed by nuclear testing and continued political influence.
American evangelical activism: continued to surprise policymakers by affecting issues such as religious freedom, sex trafficking, Sudan, and AIDS in Africa; evangelical influence became a significant factor in U.S. politics—argued to have been a strong predictor of vote choice in the 2004 U.S. presidential election, potentially more influential than gender, age, or class.
Vatican II and the Catholic Church: post–Vatican II church offered an institutional base that could compete with states and adapt to democratic processes; contrasts with regional, noncentralized movements like Islam and Pentecostalism.
Solidarity in Poland and the Afghan mujahideen era: religiously framed resistance helped to challenge and eventually contribute to the end of Soviet-style secularism.
Taliban and Iran’s clerical establishment: the rise of religious authority in postwar Afghanistan and Iran shaped regional politics and global alignments.
Muslim Brotherhood (Egypt/Jordan), Hamas (Palestine), Hezbollah (Lebanon), and Indonesian movements: emblematic of modern religious actors using organized networks to influence politics across borders.
Viswa Hindu Parishad (VHP): founded in 1964, catalyzed saffronization in India and laid groundwork for electoral successes in the 1990s.
Pentecostalism in Brazil and across Latin America: organized legislative caucuses and significant political mobilization.
Transnational religious capabilities: contemporary religious actors build networks that engage foreign governments and international bodies to advance their causes.
Neo-Orthodoxities and Modern Organizational Capabilities
The core pattern across movements: sophisticated, politically capable organizations, using modern institutions and technologies to recruit, mobilize, deliver services, and press agendas.
Religious actors increasingly operate transnationally and politically, not just spiritually.
A common denominator: deployment of organized structures and social services to recruit members, maintain networks, and influence policy.
Central issue: how compatible are these neo-orthodox movements with liberal democracy? They can wield power, and in some cases, may short-circuit democracy by excluding nonbelievers.
Demographics, Values, and Global Evidence
World-level trends show sacred revival amidst modernization and greater political freedom. Key data points:
Freedom House: the number of free and partly free countries rose from 93 in 1975 to 147 in 02/2005.
UNESCO: adult literacy rates doubled in Sub-Saharan Africa during the period studied.
World Bank: the share of people in developing countries living on less than a dollar a day fell from 20 ext{%} to 22 ext{%} between 1990 and 2002 (note: the transcript presents these numbers in a way that suggests a fall but states the figures; preserve as written).
In Arab South and West Asia, development indicators show progress in education and economic measures, though regional variation is pronounced.
The two largest Christian traditions and the two largest non-Christian traditions show growth:
Catholicism and Protestantism (Christianity)
Islam and Hinduism (non-Christian traditions)
World Christian Encyclopedia findings:
At the beginning of the 20th century, a bare majority of the world’s people (precisely 50 ext{%}) belonged to Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, or Hindu affiliation.
By the beginning of the 21st century, roughly 64 ext{%} belonged to one of these four religious groupings, and projection could approach 70 ext{%} by 2025.
World Values Survey (covers about 85% of the world’s population) supports the conclusion that religion’s vitality is rising; Englehart and Norris argue that the world now has more traditional religious adherents than ever before, constituting a growing share of the population.
Religiosity in major economies is rising: the United States, Brazil, China, Nigeria, Russia, South Africa show increases in religious observance between 1990 and 2002/2001; in the USA, surveys from 1987–1997 show increases in belief in God, sin, miracles, and the importance of prayer.
Even in Europe, traditionally secular, there are upticks in religiosity; the growth is partly attributed to globalization and increased political freedom.
Religion, Modernization, and Democratization: Causal Narratives
The third wave of democratization (mid-1970s to early 1990s) empowered people to shape public life in ways that were inconceivable in the 1950s/60s.
In many cases, political liberalization allowed religious groups to challenge secular constraints previously imposed by post-independence leaders.
Types of regimes and secularism:
Secularism was enforced through coercion in some communist or other regimes (e.g., Afghanistan under certain periods, other secular dictatorships).
In Turkey (Atatürk), India (Nehru), and Egypt (Nasser), secularism retained legitimacy because elites saw it as essential to modernization and national integration.
The rise of evangelicals in the United States and the broader political engagement of religious groups around the world have amplified the role of religion in politics, often aligning with or challenging ruling authorities.
Some observers argue that the marriage of religion and politics can be welcomed or demanded by people globally; public opinion data show strong desire for religious leadership to play a bigger role in politics in several countries (e.g., Pew Global Attitude Survey 2002: 91% of Nigerians and 76% of Bangladeshis agreed that religious leaders should be more involved in politics; 2004 Six Nations survey: many Arabs favored a larger role for clergy; UAE: Islam as primary identity trumping nationality).
Religion as a Political Force: Risks and Opportunities
Opportunities:
Mobilizing millions against authoritarian regimes and supporting democratic transitions and human rights.
Providing social services, relief, and humanitarian work through religious organizations.
Helping end colonial rule and contribute to democratic openings in various regions.
Risks:
Potential to trigger or sustain civil conflicts: since 2000, roughly 43% of civil wars have been religious in motivation; earlier decades had a much smaller share (about a quarter in the 1940s and 1950s).
Radical religious ideologies can be a primary motivation for transnational terrorism.
Without centralized authority (as in Islam or Pentecostal movements), religious elites may struggle to coordinate responses to fast-moving social and political events, increasing the risk of internal fracturing or violent competition with established powers.
Religion’s modern counterpart, though, often relies on highly centralized Catholic structures in the past, whereas Islam and Pentecostal movements tend to be more decentralized, with varying leadership and doctrinal authority. This can lead to both resilience and volatility in political outcomes.
Case Analysis: Post-9/11 and Beyond
Post-9/11 dynamics highlighted how religious rhetoric and movements can influence international relations, domestic politics, and security policies across borders.
The global religious revival is not monolithic; it includes diverse movements with varying goals, strategies, and levels of organizational sophistication.
Ahmadinejad and the transnational rhetoric: Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s public letters to President Bush argued that the modern world has proven hospitable to religious belief, signaling a shift in how religious authority is leveraged to engage with global power.
The shift from secular Arab nationalism to pan-Islamic or religiously inflected politics in some regions signals a realignment of political identities and state-society relations that can influence diplomacy, conflict, and governance.
Modernity, Democracy, and the Question of Compatibility
The claim that secularism is the default or inevitable outcome of modernization is increasingly questioned by global data showing persistent and rising religious vitality alongside greater political and economic freedom.
The key question for analysts and policymakers: can modern democracies accommodate vibrant, diverse, and sometimes militant religious movements without eroding minority rights or enabling violent exclusion?
A central tension lies in how religious groups participate in democratic processes while maintaining or asserting exclusive or absolutist claims about belief and salvation.
Quantitative Snapshots and Their Interpretive Cues
Freedom House trend: 93 (1975) → 147 (02/2005) in the count of free and partly free countries.
UNESCO: adult literacy rates doubling in Sub-Saharan Africa over relevant periods.
World Bank poverty metric (as reported): share living on less than a dollar a day fell from 20 ext{%} to 22 ext{%} between 1990 and 2002 (note the apparent inconsistency in the transcript’s phrasing).
Population religiosity projections: by 2025, the share of adherents among Catholics, Protestants, Muslims, and Hindus could approach 70 ext{%} of the world’s population.
Global religious observance increases in major economies during the late 20th century show a convergence of political freedom with religious vitality.
Implications for Practice and Policy
For democracies:
Recognize and engage with religiously motivated actors as legitimate stakeholders in policy discourse, while safeguarding minority rights and ensuring religious neutrality in state governance.
Build robust civil society channels that can accommodate diverse religious voices without enabling exclusivist or violent agendas.
For researchers:
Monitor the rise of neo-orthodox religious movements and their organizational forms, including transnational networks and social-service provision as political leverage.
Analyze the conditions under which religious mobilization supports or undermines democratic consolidation.
For educators and ethicists:
Examine the ethical implications of religious political influence, including questions about religious freedom, pluralism, and the rights of nonbelievers.
Consider how secular and religious narratives shape public discourse, policy choices, and the legitimacy of political actors.
Takeaways
God is increasingly seen as a political actor in the modern world; religion’s vitality and organizational sophistication are growing in tandem with democracy and globalization.
The era is characterized by a spectrum: religious groups that work within democratic systems to advance social services and rights, and those that challenge pluralism or resort to violence to achieve political ends.
The overarching claim remains controversial but influential: God is winning in global politics, and modernization, democratization, and globalization have intensified religious influence rather than diminishing it.
Global politics is increasingly characterized by "prophetic politics," where voices claiming divine authority shape public discourse, elections, and policy. Contrary to notions of religion fading, its influence is booming worldwide, often amplified by modernization, democratization, and globalization. This trend is evident in events like Hamas's electoral victory and global protests defending religious honor, showing a deep historical current of religious activism challenging secular narratives. Modern religious movements, or "neo-orthodoxies," employ sophisticated organizational structures and technologies to mobilize, deliver services, and press agendas politically and transnationally. Quantitative data supports this, with major religious affiliations growing globally and surveys indicating rising religiosity even in industrialized nations. While offering opportunities for social good and democratic transitions, this religious ascendance also presents risks such as triggering civil conflicts and motivating terrorism. A key challenge for modern democracies is finding ways to accommodate these diverse, sometimes militant, religious movements while safeguarding pluralism and minority rights. The overarching claim is that "God is winning" in global politics, with religious influence intensifying rather than diminishing.