عنوان

The Public Role of Religion in Modern Ghanaian Society

Number

LA124594

.Language of Text, Soundtrack etc

انگلیسی

Title Proper

The Public Role of Religion in Modern Ghanaian Society

General Material Designation

[Article]

First Statement of Responsibility

Comfort Max-Wirth

Place of Publication, Distribution, etc.

Leiden

Name of Publisher, Distributor, etc.

Brill

Text of Note

This article lends its voice to the discussion on Charles Taylor's Varieties of Religion Today: William James Revisited, which critiques William James's view that the public dimensions of religion will be less real and less necessary and, therefore, will decrease in modern societies. The article uses Ghana as a case study to show that religion is still a public phenomenon in modern African societies. Religion has always been a crucial part of Ghanaian public life, including politics, although today it finds expression in the context of pentecostal Christianity. As the religious phenomenon with the strongest presence in contemporary Ghana, Pentecostalism informs the lives of many. Nowadays, during political elections, voters would consider whether or not a candidate exhibits pentecostal religious qualities in deciding to vote him or her into office. Likewise, politicians use religious communities and leaders for the purposes of mobilizing voters or organizing constituencies. Furthermore, religious language has come to dominate political discourse and debates with politicians casting their messages and visions in religious (mostly biblical) imagery and allusions to appeal to worshipping populations both imaginatively and emotionally. In demonstrating the increasing public quality of religion in modern societies, this article identifies some of the strategies Ghanaian politicians use to play on the pentecostal imaginations of the Ghanaian populace, all in a bid to secure political power. This article argues that while religion is a private experience in modern Western societies, it is public and mainstream and influences almost all facets of life in modern Africa, particularly Ghanaian politics. This article lends its voice to the discussion on Charles Taylor's Varieties of Religion Today: William James Revisited, which critiques William James's view that the public dimensions of religion will be less real and less necessary and, therefore, will decrease in modern societies. The article uses Ghana as a case study to show that religion is still a public phenomenon in modern African societies. Religion has always been a crucial part of Ghanaian public life, including politics, although today it finds expression in the context of pentecostal Christianity. As the religious phenomenon with the strongest presence in contemporary Ghana, Pentecostalism informs the lives of many. Nowadays, during political elections, voters would consider whether or not a candidate exhibits pentecostal religious qualities in deciding to vote him or her into office. Likewise, politicians use religious communities and leaders for the purposes of mobilizing voters or organizing constituencies. Furthermore, religious language has come to dominate political discourse and debates with politicians casting their messages and visions in religious (mostly biblical) imagery and allusions to appeal to worshipping populations both imaginatively and emotionally. In demonstrating the increasing public quality of religion in modern societies, this article identifies some of the strategies Ghanaian politicians use to play on the pentecostal imaginations of the Ghanaian populace, all in a bid to secure political power. This article argues that while religion is a private experience in modern Western societies, it is public and mainstream and influences almost all facets of life in modern Africa, particularly Ghanaian politics.

Date of Publication

2018

Physical description

71-90

Title

Pneuma

Volume Number

40/1-2

International Standard Serial Number

1570-0747

Subject Term

Africa

Subject Term

Charles Taylor

Subject Term

General

Subject Term

Pentecostalism

Subject Term

religion and politics in Ghana

Subject Term

secularism

Subject Term

Theology and World Christianity

Comfort Max-Wirth

Call Number

10.1163/15700747-04001031

Electronic name

p

[Article]

275578

a

Y