What is religious politics definition. Religion in the modern world and in modern society

3. Religious policy of the emperors after Julian. After Julian, the throne passed to Jovian (363-364). His short reign was marked by the strict application of religious toleration. Having declared himself for Orthodoxy, Jovian returned the bishops exiled under Julian, but also provided

The question of the relationship between religion and politics in society is not a simple one. What is politics? There is no single definition of this concept. The ancient Greek philosopher Plato believed that politics is the art of living together; sociologist M.

Weber defined politics as the desire to participate in power; famous German statesman and diplomat Bismarck - as the art of the possible. On the one hand, politics streamlines social life and regulates relationships in a socially differentiated society. On the other hand, the core of politics is power, and the desire of various social groups and individuals to participate in the exercise of power leads to the fact that the sphere of politics is a sphere of political struggle, conflict and competition.

As already mentioned above, religion also plays a regulatory function in society, striving to ensure equal and peaceful coexistence of people who differ in social status and property positions. Primitive people, who professed the cult of heaven and earth, who worshiped the totems of the ancestors of the clan, recognized the power of supernatural forces. In many religions, for example in Christianity, one can trace the connection between the idea of ​​political power and church power; it is embodied in the idea of ​​​​the divine direction of human affairs. For centuries, traditional Muslim states were characterized by a complete fusion of state and church power. The head of state (caliph, padishah) was considered the successor of the Prophet Muhammad, the highest clergy played the role of political advisers, and criminal and civil law was based on religious laws - Sharia. Thus, all spheres of society - family, culture, legal relations, politics - were subject to interference from Islam. The more significant the role the religious factor played in the life of the country, the stronger the influence it had on the relations between the state and the church.

Three main historical types of relations between church and state can be distinguished. 1.

The supremacy of state power over church power. For example, in the 14th century. By order of the French king Philip IV, the residence of the popes was moved to the city of Avignon, located on the territory of France, the papacy was used by the French monarchs for political purposes. This period, which lasted from 1309 to 1377, is called the Captivity of Avignon. 2.

Subordination of the state to church institutions. In traditional Islamic states, the Muslim clergy performed secular functions, completely controlling the political sphere. 3.

Mutual non-interference between the state and the church. This situation is typical for most countries of modern Western Europe.

In modern Western society, the state and the church coexist parallel to each other. Religion helps to substantiate and maintain social values, including political ones, which influences society’s attitude towards law and government.

Church institutions can represent the interests of individual social groups and help strengthen their influence. Religious organizations take part in the political process through active ideological activity. This relationship between religion and politics is due to the fact that for most people, religious faith is part of the national culture and is inseparable from the way of life and the foundations of the socio-political structure of society.

In the modern world we can talk about three main forms of interaction between religion and politics.

Firstly, about the use of religion for political purposes. For example, in 1991, Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein motivated the attack on Kuwait by arguing that the Kuwaiti royal family was not behaving in accordance with Islamic norms.

Secondly, about the influence of religion on politics within the framework of statutory or generally accepted procedures. In Western Europe, the church seeks to influence legislation through generally accepted democratic channels. In countries such as Spain, Portugal, and Italy, the church argues with the state on issues of family and education.

Thirdly, about the sacralization of political institutions. An example is Japan, where the national religion - Shintoism - is the spiritual basis of Japanese political institutions.

In the modern world, religion still continues to perform functions similar to those of ideology, which leads to its politicization. However, this does not always mean that society becomes more religious. Very often, especially in third world countries, dissatisfaction with socio-economic or political realities is expressed in the form of religious unrest aimed at achieving some kind of higher justice. In these cases, religion can act as an alternative to modern ideologies such as conservatism, liberalism or socialism. As mentioned above, religious faith is an organic part of national culture. Globalization processes, which often contribute to the Westernization of traditional societies, can lead to increased nationalist tendencies that contribute to the preservation of an original culture; religion in such cases becomes an important part of nationalist programs.

These features of social development lead to the fact that the religious factor increasingly plays an important role in both internal and international conflicts. What lies behind such phenomena as the medieval Crusades or the terrorist attacks of modern Islamic fundamentalists? At first glance, these aggressive actions appear to be based on religious faith. Does this mean that religion initially contains norms and regulations that call for violence and expansion? World religions, i.e. Buddhism, Christianity and Islam in their classical version, are based on tolerance and love of humanity; they do not directly call for the fight against dissidents. However, religion and the church have special opportunities to influence the worldview and behavior of believers. The interpretation of divine precepts is a monopoly of the clergy, and such a monopoly often leads to the fact that the greatest attention is paid to some dogmas to the detriment of others. For example, Islamic fundamentalists use the concept of jihad to mean war against infidels in the name of spreading the Muslim faith. However, jihad is translated from Arabic as “effort.” If in the first centuries of the spread of Islam jihad was indeed interpreted as a war, and a defensive war, then starting from the 14th century. the concept of jihad becomes more complicated: the highest manifestation is considered to be spiritual jihad, that is, internal self-improvement on the path to Allah. Thus, jihad can be interpreted both as a justification for making maximum efforts for the prosperity of the state, and as a justification for terrorist attacks - it all depends on the political goals of a particular leader.

Of course, one cannot deny the fact that Islam is initially characterized by proselytism4 and a certain aggressiveness in matters of spreading the faith. These features of Islam contribute to its use as a political platform. Buddhism, on the contrary, is purely peaceful. It, unlike Islam and Christianity, does not develop a single world order of divine origin. However, the roots of the notorious Japanese sect “Aum Shinrikyo”, which carried out a terrorist attack on the Tokyo subway in 1995, originally go back to Buddhism. The founder of the sect, Shoko Asahara, set himself the goal of seizing power, first in Japan, and then throughout the world. The “peaceful” nature of Buddhism is also refuted by some Buddhist orientalists: in canonical Buddhist texts one can find justification for the necessity and justice of an aggressive policy.

The German philosopher K. Schmitt, in his definition of politics, pointed out that political actions and motives can be reduced to the distinction between friend and enemy. The political enemy is not always morally evil, but always represents the alien, the other. Using religious faith and religious symbols, it is possible to impart sacredness to any political conflict, which, in turn, leads to the sacralization of the enemy, making him the embodiment of universal evil. Thus, it is the religious factor that becomes one of the most convenient when used for political purposes to justify violence and aggression.

At all stages of the development of human civilization, religion has been and remains one of the most important factors influencing the worldview and way of life of every believer, as well as relationships in society as a whole. Every religion is based on belief in supernatural forces, organized worship of God or gods, and the need to adhere to a certain set of rules and regulations prescribed to believers. in the modern world plays almost the same important role as it did thousands of years ago, since according to polls conducted by the American Gallup Institute, at the beginning of the 21st century, more than 90% of people believed in the presence of God or higher powers, and the number of believing people is approximately the same in highly developed states and in third world countries.

The fact that the role of religion in the modern world is still great refutes the secularization theory popular in the twentieth century, according to which the role of religion is inversely proportional to the development of progress. Proponents of this theory were confident that scientific and technological progress by the beginning of the twenty-first century would cause only people living in underdeveloped countries to retain faith in higher powers. In the second half of the 20th century, the secularization hypothesis was partly confirmed, since it was during this period that millions of adherents of the theories of atheism and agnosticism rapidly developed and found, but the end of the 20th - beginning of the 21st century was marked by a rapid increase in the number of believers and the development of a number of religions.

Religions of modern society

The process of globalization has also affected the religious sphere, so in the modern world they are gaining more and more weight, and there are fewer and fewer adherents of ethnoreligions. A striking example of this fact can be the religious situation on the African continent - if just over 100 years ago adherents of local ethnoreligions prevailed among the population of African states, now all of Africa can be conditionally divided into two zones - Muslim (northern part of the continent) and Christian (southern part). mainland). The most common religions in the modern world are the so-called world religions - Buddhism, Christianity and Islam; each of these religious movements has over a billion adherents. Hinduism, Judaism, Taoism, Sikhism and other beliefs are also widespread.

The twentieth century and modern times can be called not only the heyday of world religions, but also the period of the emergence and rapid development of numerous religious movements and Neo-shamanism, neo-paganism, the teachings of Don Juan (Carlos Castaneda), the teachings of Osho, Scientology, Agni Yoga, PL-Kyodan - This is only a small part of religious movements that arose less than 100 years ago and currently have hundreds of thousands of adherents. Modern man has a very large choice of religious teachings open to him, and modern society of citizens in most countries of the world can no longer be called mono-confessional.

The role of religion in the modern world

It is obvious that the flourishing of world religions and the emergence of numerous new religious movements directly depends on the spiritual and psychological needs of people. The role of religion in the modern world has hardly changed compared to the role played by religious beliefs in past centuries, except for the fact that in most states religion and politics are separated, and clergy do not have the power to exert significant influence on political and civil processes in the country.

However, in many states, religious organizations have a significant influence on political and social processes. We should also not forget that religion shapes the worldview of believers, therefore, even in secular states, religious organizations indirectly influence the life of society, since they shape the outlook on life, beliefs, and often the civic position of citizens who are members of a religious community. The role of religion in the modern world is expressed in the fact that it performs the following functions:

The attitude of modern society towards religion

The rapid development of world religions and the emergence of many new religious movements at the beginning of the 21st century caused a mixed reaction in society, as some people began to welcome the revival of religion, but another part of society spoke out strongly against the increasing influence of religious faiths on society as a whole. If we characterize the attitude of modern society towards religion, we can notice some trends that apply to almost all countries:

A more loyal attitude of citizens towards religions that are considered traditional for their state, and a more hostile attitude towards new movements and world religions that “compete” with traditional beliefs;

Increased interest in religious cults that were widespread in the distant past, but were almost forgotten until recently (attempts to revive the faith of our ancestors);

The emergence and development of religious movements, which are a symbiosis of a certain direction of philosophy and dogma from one or several religions;

The rapid increase in the Muslim part of society in countries where for several decades this religion was not very widespread;

Attempts by religious communities to lobby for their rights and interests at the legislative level;

The emergence of trends opposing the increasing role of religion in the life of the state.

Despite the fact that most people have a positive or loyal attitude towards various religious movements and their fans, attempts by believers to dictate their rules to the rest of society often cause protest among atheists and agnostics. One of the striking examples demonstrating the dissatisfaction of the non-believing part of society with the fact that government authorities, in order to please religious communities, rewrite laws and give members of religious communities exclusive rights, is the emergence of Pastafarianism, the cult of the “invisible pink unicorn” and other parody religions.

At the moment, Russia is a secular state in which the right of every person to freedom of religion is legally enshrined. Now religion in modern Russia is going through a stage of rapid development, since in a post-communist society the demand for spiritual and mystical teachings is quite high. According to survey data from the Levada Center company, if in 1991 just over 30% of people called themselves believers, in 2000 - approximately 50% of citizens, then in 2012 more than 75% of residents of the Russian Federation considered themselves religious. It is also important that approximately 20% of Russians believe in the presence of higher powers, but do not identify themselves with any religion, so at the moment only 1 out of 20 citizens of the Russian Federation is an atheist.

The most widespread religion in modern Russia is the Orthodox tradition of Christianity - it is professed by 41% of citizens. In second place after Orthodoxy is Islam - about 7%, in third place are adherents of various movements of Christianity that are not branches of the Orthodox tradition (4%), followed by adherents of Turkic-Mongolian shamanic religions, neo-paganism, Buddhism, Old Believers, etc.

Religion in modern Russia is playing an increasingly important role, and it cannot be said that this role is unambiguously positive: attempts to introduce this or that religious tradition into the school educational process and conflicts arising on religious grounds in society are negative consequences, the reason for which is the rapid increase in the number religious organizations in the country and the rapid increase in the number of believers.

Topic 24. Religion and politics

1. The role and place of religion in politics

The role of religion in the modern world:

v Religion still greatly influences political life in most countries of the world, including countries where the majority of the population is not religious.

v Religion has a decisive influence on the political culture of most countries and peoples of the world.

v Religious symbols are present as an integral part of the symbols of states, political parties, and public organizations.

v Religious holidays are also public holidays in most countries of the world.

v Religious figures are part of the political elite of many countries.

v The oath of office of senior officials upon taking office is often accompanied by a religious ceremony.

French educators of the 18th century said that religion was solely a consequence of the ignorance of the masses, and that as education and technological progress developed, religion would disappear.

However, starting in the 1970s, with the rise of the Islamic movement and the Islamic Revolution in Iran, political scientists began to talk about a religious renaissance in many regions of the world.

Terms such as “politicization of religion” and “religization of politics” appeared.

Religion(from the Latin word religare - connect, associate) - a special form of awareness of the world, conditioned by belief in the supernatural, including:

v set of moral standards;

v types of behavior, rituals, religious actions;

v bringing people together in an organization.

Religion can be used by politicians to achieve their own goals.

The phenomenon when secular authorities have excessive influence on the church is called Caesar-papism (it was characteristic of Byzantium, Russia and fascist Italy).

The opposite phenomenon, when the patriarchs of the church have the opportunity to manage the affairs of the secular government, is called papo-Caesarism (in the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church largely determined the political situation in Europe).

Main functions of religion:

v Worldview - religion fills the life of believers with some special significance and meaning;

v Compensatory, or comforting, psychotherapeutic - the ability of religion to compensate a person for his dependence on natural and social disasters, to remove feelings of one’s own powerlessness, difficult experiences of personal failures, grievances and the severity of life, fear of death;

v Communicative - communication of believers among themselves, “communication” with gods, angels, spirits (communication is carried out, including in ritual activities);

v Regulatory- awareness by the individual of the content of certain value systems and moral norms that are developed in each religious tradition and act as a kind of program for people’s behavior;

v Integrative- allows people to recognize themselves as a single religious community, bound by common values ​​and goals;

v Political— leaders of various communities and states use religion to justify their actions, unite or divide people by religious affiliation for political purposes;

v Cultural— religion promotes the spread of the culture of the carrier group (writing, iconography, music, etiquette, morality, philosophy, etc.);

v Disintegrating - religion can be used to divide people, to incite hostility and even wars between different religions and denominations, as well as within the religious group itself.

Religion models the future society that it encourages its followers to strive for. Religion, as a rule, transfers an ideal society to heaven, but, nevertheless, each religious ideological system always has its own project of an ideal socio-political order on earth.

2. General characteristics of religion

For religion, the most commonly used concept is “faith” (it is no coincidence that religious people call themselves “believers”). However, faith and religion are not the same thing.

Faith is the recognition of something as true without evidence, due to internal subjective assumption. Religious faith is belief in some supernatural, absolute and eternal principle that created our world, imperceptible to our senses and incomprehensible to our minds.

Religion includes not only belief in the supernatural, but also implies belief in the possibility of direct communication with this supernatural through prayers, special rituals, etc.

According to the American futurist Kurzweil Ramon (1948), “the main role of religion is the rationalization of death, that is, the awareness of the tragedy of death as a good phenomenon.”

Religion is also a way of thinking, feelings, actions, determined by belief in the supernatural and providing for the possibility of communication with it.

Religion is a whole complex that includes many components, which include:

v religious ideas,

v religious feelings,

v religious activities.

Religious ideas - this is a set of ideas and images perceived by believers as given from above, received from God,

Researchers distinguish between different levels of religious representation:

v lower (ordinary) religious idea;

v higher (religious theory).

Ordinary religious consciousness - the most general, sometimes very superficial, idea of ​​​​God and religion, often reduced only to the mechanical repetition of prayers and the performance of rituals.

Religious theory is called creed. It is developed by professional theologians (theologians). The doctrine is distinguished by its thoroughness, completeness, covering almost all aspects of human life, and strict consistency. The doctrine is clearly systematized and recorded in sacred texts - a book or set of books. In Christianity, such texts are called Holy Scripture.

For believers, sacred texts are considered divinely inspired, sent down from above and containing divine revelation.

In every religion there are dogma- opinions, teachings, provisions taken on faith as an immutable truth, unchangeable under all circumstances.

People who disagree with the teachings of the Church and express their own opinions - heresy, are called heretics. It is no coincidence that it is said - where there is dogma, there is heresy.

The dominant Church in the past subjected heretics to persecution (medieval Inquisition). But often heresy wins and itself turns into the dominant religion.

Religious feelings - an emotional state caused by thinking about religious topics, reading sacred texts, praying, or participating in a religious ceremony. Religious feelings are among the most powerful feelings that a person can experience.

Religious activities - a set of strictly regulated actions dictated by religious faith. Most often, religious actions are called cult.

The most important elements of the cult include:

v ritual bows and gestures,

v prayers and chants,

v sacrifices,

v food restrictions (fasting),

v worship of holy places.

Religious actions are usually carried out in special buildings - temples.

The totality of believers of one religious system constitute confession(from Latin confession - recognition, confession).

Along with large confessions, as a rule, in one country there are also smaller religious organizations - sects(from Latin secta - teaching, direction).

Recently, in a number of Western countries, sects have begun to be called denominations(from Latin denomination - giving a special name).

The institutionalized denomination is Church.

In society and the state, the Church performs two functions:

1. Religious -

v preserves and develops religious doctrine,

v conducts worship,

v carries out training of clergy personnel.

2. Socio-political:

v conducts state and political activities,

v cultural and educational work among the population of the country,

v does charity work

v engaged in economic activities.

Representatives of the Church and active believers become, even without meaning to, political figures.

Political activity leads to the fact that Church leaders and secular supporters of strengthening the role of religion in the life of the country have to create political parties, mass organizations, trade unions, the press and electronic media, and conduct political activities, in their forms practically no different from the activities of all other political organizations.

Political ideology inspired by religious teachings is called clerical, or clericalism (from the Latin clericalis - church).

Accordingly, political parties that defend similar views are called clerical. Parties that aim to eliminate the influence of the Church on politics and create a secular state are called anti-clerical.

Every political movement based on religious teachings is based on the understanding of sacred texts.

Depending on the interpretation of religious teachings, religious and political ideologies are divided into fundamentalist, modernist and traditionalist.

Fundamentalismcalls to return to the foundation, the foundations of faith, denying innovations in doctrine and worship.

Modernistson the contrary, they are trying to modernize the doctrine by reinterpreting the sacred texts.

Traditionalists perceive the Church as it is today, not approving of either innovation or fundamentalism.

Political movements based on religious teachings are dominated by fundamentalism. This is explained by the fact that politically active believers critically evaluate the traditional church, believing that it is not capable of defending their rights.

Modernismmost often used by ruling regimes to justify their power.

Fundamentalists who condemn the official church and are sharply opposed to government are more likely to be able to attract masses of active believers.

As of 2005, more than 54% of believers on Earth are adherents of one of the Abrahamic religions (Abraham, according to the Pentateuch, is considered the founder of the tradition reflected in Judaism, Christianity and Islam).

Among the believers:

v Christians - 33%;

v Muslims - 21%;

v Jews - 0.2%;

v Hindus - 14%;

v Buddhists - 6%;

v representatives of traditional Chinese religions - 6%;

v Sikhs - 0.37%;

v adherents of other beliefs - the rest.

1. Political doctrines of Christianity

Catholicism.

The Western Roman Empire ceased to exist in 476 and for several centuries there were no large states in this part of the Christian world. But all these small states were united by Christianity.

Since the times of the Roman Empire, the rigid centralized hierarchical structure of the Church and Latin as the main language have been preserved. Moreover, in the West there was only one city - Rome, whose archbishop was considered one of the most influential in the Christian world and bore the title of pope.

As a result, in medieval Europe there was papocaesarism- the idea of ​​​​the superiority of church power, represented by the Pope, over secular power.

Starting from the IX - X centuries. the so-called two swords theory, according to which, to protect Christianity, God gave two swords - ecclesiastical and secular. Both of them are handed over to the church, which, keeping the spiritual sword for itself, handed over the secular sword to the monarch. Therefore he must submit to the church. However, supporters of independent royal power, on the contrary, argued that the emperors received their sword directly from God. Under the most powerful popes, the theory of the "two swords" meant that secular rulers had only to carry out the commands of the popes. A king who does not obey the pope can be removed, replaced, even killed. His “sword” also belongs to the church.

Priestly ministry is considered as higher, and imperial- as inferior and subordinate to him. From this point of view, the emperor is enthroned “by the will (nutu) of God and the holy keymaster Peter.”

As national states formed and strengthened, the papacy itself increasingly came under the control of secular authorities.

The theory of the “two swords” began to be used to justify the complete independence of secular kings. Subsequently, this theory ceased to be used by both secular and church theorists.

The dogma of the infallibility of the Pope is purely Catholic, making the Roman Archbishop the highest authority in matters of faith for Catholics.

In order to preserve the unity of the possessions and wealth of the church in X I V. was the introduction celibacy- celibacy of the white (parish) clergy.This led to the fact that even the richest and most influential hierarchs of the church remained only lifelong users of its wealth, being unable to pass them on by inheritance.

At the same time, monastic orders were created in Catholicism - associations of monasteries with a common charter. The orders were directly subordinate to the pope and were therefore independent of local church authorities.

Thus, even in the event of disobedience of some king, who could be supported by the local clergy, the orders remained loyal to the pope.

Finally, the interests of the church have always been guarded by inquisition.

At the end of the XIX c., convinced of the defeat of the tough opposition to the secular authorities, the Papacy changed tactics. In 1891, Pope Leo XIII issued encyclical(message on issues of faith and politics) "Rerum Novarum", in which he called on Catholics to recognize secular laws, respect the constitutional order, but at the same time, create their own parties, trade unions, public organizations, and actively participate in political life.

In Catholic countries, parties began to emerge, usually calling themselves popular, or, somewhat later, Christian-democratic. In the twentieth century, Christian democracy became one of the most influential political forces in many European countries.

These days, Christian democratic parties can no longer be called clerical. Their ideology is characterized by an attitude towards Christianity not so much as a religion, but rather as a great historical tradition. In this sense, Christian democratic parties can be considered not religious, but conservative parties.

Orthodoxy.

At the end of the Roman era, two opposing Christian religious and political teachings emerged. In the eastern part of the Roman Empire, later called Byzantium, a phenomenon has developed Caesar-Papism, that is, the superiority of imperial power over church power.

In the East, there were several large cities at once - metropolises, the archbishop of which bore the title of patriarch or pope (Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria, Constantinople), and there was only one emperor. As a result, the patriarchs balanced each other without making independent demands.

During the era of Emperor Justinian (527-565), the concept of “ symphonies", that is, the "harmony" of secular and spiritual power. In accordance with the “symphony”, the Church saves the immortal souls of Christians, protecting the inviolability of rituals and dogmas, and the secular imperial power is in charge of sinful mortal bodies.

Thanks to the “symphony” theory, the Eastern Church never put forward political demands, but at the same time the slightest discrepancies with the rituals and dogmas adopted at the Ecumenical Councils caused serious political upheavals.

Orthodoxy considers royal power to be the ideal political system. The king, being God’s Anointed, must answer only to him, and not to the people. Autocracy is created not only by the will of God, but also according to the model of the Kingdom of God. Therefore, in the Orthodox kingdom there cannot be constitutional restrictions, parliaments, etc. Orthodoxy, thus, is inextricably linked with a certain form of government - autocratic monarchy.

In Russia, in full accordance with Caesar-papism, the secular authorities disposed of church property. Since the time of Peter the Great, the church has been reduced to an insignificant ministry. The church itself never claimed to participate in political affairs. Even during the years of upheaval of the Bolshevik Revolution, the church took a position of non-participation in the Civil War.

In 1927, the locum tenens of the patriarchal throne, Sergius, a prominent philosopher who was repeatedly arrested but never renounced his views, nevertheless published a declaration in which he announced his support for Soviet power.

The state made reconciliation with the Russian Orthodox Church during the Great Patriotic War, closing anti-religious newspapers and dissolving the “Union of Militant Atheists.” Stalin met with senior church leaders in September 1943 and essentially agreed to their wishes, releasing imprisoned priests, allowing the election of a patriarch to fill the post that had been vacant since 1925, and allowing the church to acquire buildings and open churches and religious educational institutions.

Under N.S. Khrushchev, the persecution of the church resumed. For 1959-64 5 out of 8 theological seminaries, more than 50 out of 89 monasteries were closed, the number of parishes decreased from 22 thousand to 8 thousand. However, the Russian Orthodox Church continued, in full accordance with Caesar-papism, to coexist with the government that atheism was part of the official ideology.

After perestroika and the collapse of the USSR, the Russian Orthodox Church continues to take a position of principled non-interference in political life.

Despite the desire of all political parties to bring the Church to their side, the clergy and laity remain aloof from political passions.

Protestantism.

Protestantism was born in X VI V. and is connected by its origin with Reformation- a socio-ideological movement directed against the Catholic Church and feudal orders.

From the very beginning, Protestantism was a heterogeneous movement that never had a single organization.

Nowadays, there are several dozen independent Protestant denominations and denominations.

A characteristic feature of Protestantism is the denial of the need for a church hierarchy, believing that there should be no intermediaries between God and man in the form of a church organization. This results in Protestants rarely putting forward their own political demands.

The Protestant religious ideal was a community of equal fellow believers in which everyone could preach. Therefore, it is not surprising that Protestants gravitated towards democracy in politics.

It was the Protestant countries that became the first constitutional monarchies or republics in history.

However, it is precisely the respect for the rights of the minority and the absence of a religious authority, which provides a common solution for all in matters of faith, that leads to the absence of purely Protestant political parties.

Even Christian Democratic parties in Protestant countries are secular conservative parties.

Currently, Protestantism is the predominant religion in the Scandinavian countries, the USA, Great Britain, Australia, and New Zealand.

In Germany, the Netherlands, Canada, and Switzerland, Protestantism is one of the two predominant religions (along with Catholicism).

1. Political doctrine of Islam

Islam- the youngest of the world religions.

The word "Islam" has several meanings:

v literally translated as peace;

v another meaning of this word is “surrendering oneself to God” (“submission to God”).

People who have submitted to God are called in Islam Muslims.

From point of view Koran(the holy book of Islam), Islam is the only true religion of humanity, its followers were the prophets - Abraham, Moses, Jesus.

Islam was presented in its final form in the sermons of the Prophet Muhammad, who received information about the new religion in the form of Divine Revelation.

It is by far the most politicized religion. This is explained by the fact that Muslim countries are experiencing an all-encompassing crisis, and secular ideologies cannot provide an answer to the questions that plague Muslims.

Indeed, over the past half century, countries of traditional Islam attempted to introduce Western-style democracy, tried to build a socialist society of various directions, survived a period of nationalist dictatorships.

However, all this turned out to be unable to solve the problems facing the countries. It was under these conditions that the “rebirth” of Islam took place.

This revival was largely due to the peculiarities of the Islamic religion.

The political system of Islam is based on three basic principles:

v Tawhid (monotheism),

v Risalat (prophetic mission of Muhammad),

v Khilafah (governorship).

Tawhid - the principle of the unity of Allah - completely refutes the concept of legal and political independence of human beings, collectively or individually.

No individual, family, class or race has the right to place themselves above Allah. Allah alone is the Ruler and His orders are law.

Thus, no constitution can prescribe anything to a religion or its ministers.

Khilafah - according to Islam, a person is the representative of Allah on earth, His vicegerent.

Therefore, he is called, using the virtues and abilities given to him by Allah, to carry out the orders of Allah in this world within the limits determined by Allah.

In reality, this means that the most pious Muslims can rule the Muslim community after the Prophet Muhammad.

Power struggle between the prophet's successors VII V. gave rise to a split in Islam into Sunnism (orthodox Islam) and Shiism.

The first Shiites were supporters of Caliph Ali and his son Hussein, who died in the fight against the Caliph of Moavia, who seized power by brute force. Since then, Shiites believe that only the descendants of Ali can rule Muslims. All other rulers, even Muslims, cannot be considered true rulers.

The Shiites repeatedly rebelled and created short-lived states ruled by imams - spiritual leaders.

Due to historical circumstances, Shiism established itself only in one Muslim country - Iran.

In 1979, the Iranian clergy, under the leadership of Ayatollah (the spiritual title of the Shiites) Khomeini, led a popular revolution, overturning the pro-Western regime of the Shah and establishing a unique political regime - an Islamic republic.

In Iran there is a parliament, a president, parties, elections are held periodically, but all government decisions can be overturned by a spiritual teacher - a faqih, or rahbar.

Most Muslims are Sunnis (from the Sunnah - a collection of stories about the life and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad).

They lack a single spiritual leadership after the liquidation of the caliphate in 1924.

This leads to fragmentation of Muslim political ideologies and contributes to the popularity of violent fundamentalist extremists.