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eties. Without shared values it becomes evident that the society is disjointed
and hardlyheld togetherwith any sense of overall identity.Civil religion
contributes to rectifyingthisproblem by promoting a national character
based on cherished cultural values.
Civil religion becomes the public
worth, identity, and destiny. It is civil in so far as it deals with the basic
public institutions exercising power in a society, nation, or other political
unit. A civil religion can be known through its observance of rituals, its
Like
the overall European Union, there must be aspects of the common
pean efforts to shape out of their cultural values a more unified national
character. The values that shape national identity motivate the entire public
integrity that becomes the basis of national character and national pride,
thus creating a sense of national unity.
This article is divided into four parts. The firstsegment is an overall
look at the role religion plays in a democratic society. This segment empha
sizes theWestern precedent of using Higher Authority as a
justification
for constitutionally declared human rights. The second section explores
the connection between theories of justice in a liberal democracy and civil
religion. This segment ismeant to define civil religion and to explain its
value for political liberalism. This section describes the potential role civil
a sense of shared values. I also make
religion could play in creating the
case that natural law and freedom of conscious are the basis ofWestern
Civilization's "Sacred Canons."
The second section of the paper is also made up of two sections. First
I stress why these overall Western democratic principles are particularly
important for contributing to civil religion in Eastern Europe. I use Estonia
as a particular example of where civil religion could be especially benefi
cial. Finally, I explain the potential of civil religion for enhancing faith in
Estonia's liberal democracy.
government in the hope that rule of law would assure these basic rights,
as ordained by Higher Authority. These governments are based on a firm
belief in protecting the right each individual has to pursue what he or she
believes to be the highest good. In a pluralistic society,such freedom is
as a sacred regard for each person's right to determine
thought of what
has ultimate value or meaning.
Individuals have the freedom to follow the dictates of their own con
scious in deciding how to experience their natural rights. The government
convictions;
For no one person can possess the knowledge ofwhat every person must
Into society with one another, that by mutual assistance and joint force
theymay secure unto each other the things that contribute to the com
fort and happiness of this life, leaving to every person cares about eternal
public sphere. Participatory democracy will offset the powerful role that
commerce plays in the expansion of EU. A constitutional process that
expresses the beliefs and the will of the people generates trust and, thus,
trust in the system.
The intention is to engage representatives of Europe's pluralistic
communities with the political decision-makers. The European Union is
(Foret 1).
Religion in this respect is civilbecause it isproduced by and supports
the democratic process. The practice of civil religion can be thought of
as a manifestation of the ideals upon which the constitutional process is
public, while at the same time representing a mythos that transcends those
of the particular traditions. Jean Jacques Rousseau included civil religion
ONWORLD PEACE
INTERNATIONALJOURNAL
VOL. XXVI NO. 1 MARCH 2009 99
that they override our together that we are able to enhance our
individuals, each nation has the freedom to structure its own policy regard
ing the role of religion in society. The relationship between religion and
to and can even differ
government varies from country country regulations
from one a country to another.
region of
Europe has three types of systems that regulate religion and state.
The first is the well-known separation of religion and state, the second
is accommodation and the third is national church systems. Particular
nations now have outstanding
European
legislation that not only determines the
between
Europe has three types
and state
relationship religion
of systems that regulate
but also policies influencingreligion and
and state. The
thepublic sphere.These policies have had religion
noticeable results in
first is the well-known
especially schools,
thus affecting the freedom ofminorities toseparation of religion
and state, the second is
publicly express theirfaith.Such policies
have gained international media attention accommodation and the
and are a matter of an interesting public third is national church
debate concerning religion and society.
systems.
"The main rationale
and purpose
of drafting a new European constitution appears to be an extra-legal
by the general will of its populace. Rousseau coined the term civil society
to describe his vision of an active public sphere where individuals develop
based on shared beliefs about what
relationships promotes justice and util
ity.Rousseau also proposed that civil religion would add to civil society
because of its ability to articulate those things that are commonly regarded
as necessary for a
good society. Although Rousseau was writing in the 1700s
he accurately anticipates the situation Eastern Europe is confronted with
in recent history and today.
Rousseau believed that humans are inherently free (in accordance with
their state in nature). Rousseau would agree that for Eastern Europeans
this original state in nature was interrupted by Soviet domination. He
believed that in the original state humans lived in a type of cooperative
Rousseau, civil society and civil religion are the means by which to revive
a cultural integrity that was characteristic of its original state.
Ifwe consider the Estonian preferred state of existence?and the best
course for achieving that today?it might be helpful to apply the justice
principles of John Rawls to Estonia's effort to create a liberal democracy.
Rawls offers a relevant variation to Rousseau's ideas. Rawls would design the
policy that would improve the well-being of each member in the Esto
nian society. However, he adds to this the notion of a "veil of ignorance"
where he asks each member of society to imagine entering society without
any knowledge of status (Rawls 12). This "levels theplaying field" giving
everyone the imagined position of equality. Rawls wants
to plan social
To claim then that religion is a public good is to claim that religion ismore
than a private good thatmight be regarded with indifference or neutrality
by the commonwealth, and that it bestows a benefit upon the polity and
is thus a public good in the strong sense (Gottsegen 1,4).
nity and the common good). He thought that civil society would facilitate
expression that deepens respect for liberty, democracy and pluralism. Civil
religion is a progressive
way to deal with plurality, thus offering Estonia
a means of creating more also is not the
public tolerance. Civil Religion
worship of the nation but an understanding of the Estonian national iden
authority for these principles is derived from the very nature of creation is
the fundamental reason why they are expressed as a culture's civil religion.
Thus, civil religion arises for political reasons as an expression of the depth
of conviction that must shape a culture's legally defined identity.
Scholars from Boston University's Institute on Culture, Religion and
World Affairspoint out that because religion is at the core of allworld
cultures it has significant economic, political, social and psychological
influence(CURA 1). A culturewill always formulatea culturalworldview
as the basis of what shapes the norms and values of the culture. However,
in a liberal democracy it is impossible to use any one traditional or cultural
ONWORLD PEACE
INTERNATIONALJOURNAL
108 VOL. XXVI NO. 1 MARCH 2009
goodness.
Robert Bellah is best known for his work on themoral connection
between religion, society and democracy. Bellah believes that the value
thought of civil religion as the basis for the customs, ceremonies, national
symbols and national solidarity that motivate deep levels of communal
commitment toward the attainment of national goals.
Such socialstructures express a society's beliefs about what will help it
to flourish. Such cultural knowledge is shaped into tradition, custom and
law. Often this is characterized as common law, giving the society's deter
mination of public good somethingof a religious character.This definition
becomes the public character. Matters of religion and society thus involve
more than just assuring that individual beliefs are not imposed upon by
the state. Civil religion involves a type of common law that expresses basic
standards or values believed to be necessary for justice.
John Rawls believes that social contract promotes fairness and equality
for all itsmembers. The contract theory of jurisprudence suggests forming
a binding agreement thatdefines legal identity.
Everymember of the society
has opportunityto contributeto thisagreementbyway of public discourse.
This public deliberation gives shape to a communityof people who share a
desire to continue their corporate communal life. This legally established
commitment is the basis of their sover
realizing these rights. In other words, equal opportunity means that each
citizen has equal access to the opportunities the society provides. Rawls
reasonable to the general public. This is formulated into the terms of politi
cal association that all citizens have had a chance to contribute to, thus
each citizen has a high degree of commitment. "When the public governs,
there isno man who does not feel thevalue of public goodwill orwho does
not endeavor to court it by drawing to himself the esteem and affection of
those among whom he is to live" (Tocqueville 11:2:4). This establishes a
public faiththat is reinforcedby social and legal institutions.
Democracy is justifiedby itseffortto legallyguarantee rightsordained
by the natural order of creation (natural law). Such transcendent principles
are accepted as reasonable in pluralistic societies. This is because contem
any minority group in the society are not restricted to provide advantage
for a majority group. Such restrictions are believed to threaten the very
structures of democracy and justice. Rawls would hold this to be the guid
terms, anyone who puts personal gain over social well-being betrays the
social contract. The social contract concept has become an important
community commits itself to the rule of law, specifies its basic values, agrees
to abide by a legal constitutional structure that guarantees that formal social
institutions will respect the agreed upon values" (Katz 9).
In order formost of the Estonian population to accept a national identity
as "Ours" (an expression of a unified identity) there must be widespread,
popular consent of the cultural and legal values shaping the nation. Civil
religion is one way to organize, express and define the Estonian cultural
worldview to generate such consent. If we think of the Body Politic as
social cooperation between equal members of a pluralistic society, then civil
unity.
Works Cited
Gottsegen, Michael. "Religion as a Public Good: Jews and Others in the Public
Square." http://64.233.183.104/search?q=cache:BvakBVHF6w4J:www.
bc.edu/bc_org/research/rapl/acrobat/gottsegen.draft.pdf+environmental
+protection+and+civil+religion&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=24.
Jiirgenson, Aivar. "On the Formation of the Estonians Concepts of Homeland
and Home Place." http://66.102.9.104/search?q=cache:q3Mwij41fiIJ:
www. erm. ee/pdf/pro 18/jyrgenson .pdf+On+the+Formation+of+ the+Eston
ians%E2%80%99+Concepts+of+Homeland+and+Home+Place&hl=en&ct=c
lnk&cd=l.
COMMENT_
Gordon L.
Anderson Professors World Peace Academy
1925 Oakcrest Ave., Suite 7
St. Paul, MN 55113
USA
Leon Miller iswriting on civil religion from the stateof Estonia, part of
the Soviet Bloc formany decades. The Soviet bloc promoted an ideology,
Marxism-Leninism, that officially rejected religion as "an opiate of the
religion.Now that the Soviet Union has collapsed and the ideology has
been discredited, there is a value vacuum in Eastern Europe.
Miller suggests that this vacuum can be replaced by a civil religion, an
agreed upon set of values that form the basis for a social contract. Citing
Rousseau, D?rkheim, and a number of scholars, he suggests that cultural
values can be formulated that will be accepted by nearly all citizens as an
expression of the common good and serve as the basis of a civil religion,
This civilreligionwould be shaped
national identity,and culturalsolidarity.
as a consensus in the public forum "where legislators attempt to discern
A problem which develops when one both tries to combine the concept
of libertyand the protection of the basic right to pursue individualhap
piness with concepts of positive social goods like healthcare, housing, and
public education is that there ismutual exclusivity. Karl Popper critiqued
the Marxist attempt to do this in The Open Society and Its Enemies.
In other circles of discourse this has been called the conflict between
cohesion for the state. This has been a dream ofWestern culture that is
an illusion, at least where positive rights are concerned. Many
proving
today promote the democratic nation-state as an ideal form of
people
society. This used to be explicitly stated as a goal of United States foreign
it is nearly impossible for a large democratic nation to
policy. However,
agree on any positive rights.
As in the United States founding, agreement can be made on nega
tive rights, but that is not enough to provide cultural cohesion in its own
right. The American Experiment required that the private sphere inculcate
individual citizens with the positive values necessary to pursue their own
religious and ideologically based values advocated for a society. Osama bin
Laden is today askingquestions likethatwith respect to theuse of religious
tradition by the Saudi can turn around
royal family. Rationalists and ask
groups reside.
people than the political accepted depends on how open the host
society is; how respectful of other values it
system on a territory.
can be without compromising its own.
Greek, or Chinese lies more in the people than the political system on a
ner, although there are a few. The "Twelve Tables" of the Ancient Roman
Republic, the formation of the Dutch Republic after throwing off the
Spanish Empire, and the framing of the United States Constitution. When
constitutions have been formed from below, they tend to be pluralistic and
However, legislation on behalf of any positive social value not also held as
authority.4
[T]he States can best govern our home concerns and the general govern
ment our foreign ones. Iwish, therefore...never to see all offices transferred
toWashington, where, furtherwithdrawn from the eyes of the people,
power. As early as 1821 Jefferson was worried that the Supreme Court was
secured, but it is clear that legal institutions increasingly had the task not
only of securing those rights but of defining them as well" (Bellah and
Hammond 9). The process of defining what is legally required to achieve
the public good is tantamount to establishing a civil religion.
INTERNATIONALJOURNAL
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VOL. XXVI NO. 1 MARCH 2009 121
consensus
secured"? Such rights would be considered rights, not natural
The U.S. founders viewed "natural law" as that being governed by
rights.
a higher power of nature. Human beings are not able by a wish to change
such laws, as they are laws of physics, chemistry, biology or other processes
of the natural world which beings did not create. We cannot by con
human
sensus
adequately determine the size of a steel plate necessary to support a
bridge. We must refer to laws of physics. Similarly, ones "life" is not created
ing civil religion of "life, liberty,and the pursuit of happiness," and been
passed into law in the UnitedStates in the name of universal good, the
legitimacy of the government has eroded. And now it, too, has made the
transition from Republic to Empire, and is increasingly becoming a police
state based on common fear, not common values.
I have not seen satisfactory proof for
society, and because they are the result of reason rather than faith, the term
"civil religion" might be a misnomer.
developed from it, there has been an official religion "from above" imposed
on all citizens of the state. Miller and other supporters of "civil religion"
passes and the society has new drift farther and farther from
experiences,
original beliefs. It follows that the disestablishment of religion encourages
competition among religious leaders to continually seek new and more accu
rate truththatadherentswill recognize as being helpful to theirpursuitof
a good and happy life.Indeed, thishas occurredwhere freedomof religion
and separation of church and state have existed. Creating religious plural
ism in the United States led to increased church attendance, while over the
same
period in England attendance at the official state church has declined.
As in other human endeavors, people prefer to join something voluntarily
because of its attractiveness and they are inclined to resist thatwhich is forced
Thus, a state religion suffers from the same basic problem as a nation-state;
there is not a natural
overlap except for the most rudimentary values of
the open society.
The values at the basis of open societies are, however, so limited and
generic that they do not provide the necessary values to ensure a good
life or good communities. This iswhy religions should be encouraged to
compete in the private sphere, and why a government of free people needs
this vibrant religious competition to underpin its own existence.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, I propose that civil religion, to the limit it exists, can help
the cause of civil order in a pluralistic state. It can serve as a principle to be
enshrined in political Constitutions thatguarantee people theirfreedom
to pursue life in liberty and happiness. However, civil religion is under
a rational
pinned more by understanding of natural law than by articles of
universal faith, and as such can more appropriately be called core principles
than civil religion.
statement, "I live in Greece" does not necessarily mean that I consider
a Greek. In this era of the overlap between national
myself globalization,
identity and territorial residence is decreasing, and attempts to force them
to unity are working against the evolution of human history.
There is some psychological comfort in the idea that the legal civil reli
gion of a state can create the necessary morality and unity for the citizens of
amodern state the achieve "the good life." This has been the presupposition
of both the old state churches inWestern Europe and communist ideol
ogy. However, societies change and evolve, people cross state borders, and
Notes
REJOINDER_
Leon Miller
plishments have been commendable given the fact of its enormous diversity
manage as
challenge.This diversitychallenge (thatEstonia must effectively
a part of its to democracy) is largely due to the massive popula
adjustment
tion shifts that were a part of the Soviet strategy. The Estonian attempt to
successfully shape itself into a model of liberal must contend
democracy
with the problem of this diversity resulting inwhat amounts to Estonia's
bi-polar culture (60 percent Estonian and 40 percent people relocated from
various parts of the former Soviet Union).
The minority population is generally referred to as Russian. Thus, Esto
nia, like many other Western European secular nations, finds it difficult to
establish common shared values that bond people together. Estonia also
has found itdifficultto establish a national characterwith which all of its
people can identify. To have a clear picture of the intricate dynamics con
nected with challenges to Estonia's attempt at improved national unity,
a couple of key factors must be taken into consideration. First, Estonia
enjoyed a brief period of independence during the interwar years. Prior
to the interwar period of independence Estonia had been under foreign
composed of the very forces that reflect the disruption of that culture. So,
on the one hand, Estonia must be commended for having come so far in
ONWORLD PEACE
INTERNATIONALJOURNAL
VOL. XXVI NO. 1 MARCH 2009 127
especially heightened after Estonia once again became the target of Russia's
threat to punish Estonia for the 'blasphemous and inhuman' removal of
a monument to theRed Army afterdeadly rioting took over Tallinn, the
capital" (Halpin 1).
Although themonument outbreak reveals underlying tensions that have
been smoldering for quite some time, there is an overall preference of the
totalpopulation to identify
with the progressivedirection of the society's
Western slant. "A large part of Russian speakers are oriented towards an
goes on to explain that all societies are united by a shared sense of identity
that he calls totem. As society advanced and division of labor appeared
a common
good. The West proceeded with the conviction that Rousseau's
Social Contract and Civil Religion could restore the benefits of the human
social-political cohesion.
Members of Estonian society are in need of and desperately desire such
reconciliation to shape the existing conflicting views about history into a
The network society, inwhich a broad range of actors and groups of actors
with different interests isoperating, driven by awish to protect their (spe
cial) interests in the policy-making process, requires that the state gives up
themonopoly of decision-making (Sustainable Estonia 46).
Freedom) was to provide some insight into what institutional changes were
necessary tomake the transition from a communist society to a democratic
society. I realized that thismeant training young professionals to be West
ern oriented, moving them into strategic official positions and attempting
to reeducate the older employees that had been educated with a Soviet
orientation. During this period, balancing positive and negative rights for
all the citizens of Estonia was enormously difficult. There were frequent
accusations of apparent discrimination. These legal and economic factors
were exasperated with the Estonian attempt to reestablish some sense of a
uniquely Estonian cultural pride in a society with such bipolar tensions.
The role of the Estonian language, in a world where perhaps only
around one and half million people speak the language, became a crucial
issue. Language is certainly a key factor in cultural identity, cultural pride
and the preservation of one of the most
that there are additionalvalues that are more uniquely Estonian that all the
members of the society identify with. The orientation toward nature that
possibility that this cultural trait could play an important factor in the
national character. Such a national character would be a reflection of the
Estonian passion for peace and freedom that is generated by their long his
tory of oppression. I believe all of the population would accept the image
of Estonians as a people committed to what itmeans to
truly modeling
an end to tyranny. This would
put give Estonia the image of employing
"Soft Power" in its domestic and international relations. In other words, all
Estonians support a national image based
would on a desire to put the past
an end to tyranny and stand as a nation on a
behind, put deep respect for
nature, peace, freedom and a deep respect for the rights of the individual
(selfdetermination).
CONCLUSION
In the article, "Estonian Civil Religion" I describe amodel for how Estonia
can achieve its effort to create a stronger and more unified national char
acter. I propose that Estonia draw from its cultural heritage to establish
a national character that all of its people can
identity with. Dr. Anderson
responds to the article by raising like: "The problem that develops
questions
when one both triesto combine the concept of libertyand theprotection
of the basic rightto pursue individualhappinesswith concepts of positive
social goods like healthcare, housing, and public education is that there is
mutual exclusivity."
The issue iswhether or not a small
society like Estonia can establish an
on common
agreement positive goods, thus reconciling possible conflicting
interests. It is indeed true that there is great
difficulty in shaping democracy
so that it equally guarantees justice and rights.Often thisdifficultyis felt
most a nation's I believe, that all Estonians
by minority. however, (regard
less of ethnicity)agree that it is equally to the advantage of all Estonians
to employ the process of public discourse to establish a common
good
prefers such a democracy. Ifwe think of the Body Politic as social coopera
tion between equal members of a pluralistic society then civil religion is
tantamount to expressing such cooperation as the national character. Thus,
civil religion would portray the Estonian national character in a way that
reflects the fundamental values of the culture. You can say that Estonian
civil religionwould be an expression ofwhat brings the society together
to celebrate itsmore unified national character.
WORKS CITED
Ehala, Martin. "The Birth of the Russian Speaking Minority in Estonia." Euro
zine. (updated 2-2-09). http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2008-09-ll
ehala-en.html.
Freire, Maria, Raquel. Conflict and Security in theFormer Soviet Union: The Role
of the OSCE (Global Interdisciplinary Studies Series). Burlington, VT: Ash
gate Publishing Company, 2003.
Gutman, Amy. Multiculturalism: The Politics of Recognition. Princeton, N.J:
Princeton University Press, 1994.
Halpin, Tony. "Russia Cries Blasphemy as Statue toWar Dead isTaken Down."
Times, 4-28-2007.
L?fgren, J. and Herd, P. G. "Estonia and the EU: Integration and Societal Se
curity in the Baltic Context." Tamperre Peace Research Institute, Research
Report no. 91,2000.
Rutherford. Jonathan. Identity: Community, Culture, Difference, edited by Jona
than Rutherford, Lawrence andWishart, London: 1990.