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Religiosity with a Protestant Profile
Ahrens, Petra-Angela Schulz, Claudia Wegner, Gerhard
Ahrens, Petra-Angela
Schulz, Claudia
Wegner, Gerhard
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Abstract
"The contours of religiosity and churchliness in Central Europe - especially in its Protestant areas - are unique in comparison to other regions of the globe. This is typified by a great openness to other religions and high tolerance toward those with different beliefs. People in these areas are more likely than average to recognize foreign worldviews as equal in worth to their own, or even to incorporate some foreign components into their own religious thinking. At the same time, the survey data of the Bertelsmann Stiftung's Religion Monitor show that the inclination to proselytize is rather low in Central Europe. Astonishingly, even among highly religious people, very few believe that religiosity defines one's entire life. In international comparison, religious practice is weak, and overall religiosity has little relevance as an area of life. This chapter traces the connections between these observations and draws conclusions from this apparently unique situation. To this end, we sift through the Religion Monitor's empirical material and ask: Can this situation of religious openness and tolerance be regarded as positive for the future of faith and churches - and for society more generally - or does this signal a process of degeneration in which the influence of religiosity is evaporating? We argue in favor of the first interpretation and contend that this situation can be attributed to the successful impact of the Volkskirchen's (national churches) religious communication - and thus to the Central European model of the Protestant church." Page 513.
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2009
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With permission of the license/copyright holder