CIVIL RELIGION AS A FACTOR OF SOCIAL CONSOLIDATION

Abstract

B a c k g r o u n d . The study of the integration potential of civil religion is conditioned by the rapid growth in Ukrainian society of the demand for the development of values and practices that will help unite Ukrainian society, which is divided by many dividing lines.

M e t h o d s . The study used an interdisciplinary approach in conjunction with the method of historical and philosophical analysis and the basic principles of philosophical hermeneutics. General scientific methods such as analysis and synthesis, generalization were also widely used.

R e s u l t s . The term "civil religion" has a long history of development. It was introduced into scientific circulation by the French philosopher J. J. Rousseau, who, through a comprehensive study of the role of religion in society, argued for the expediency of creating a non-denominational civil religion of a deistic nature. The ideas proposed by the French thinker were quite favorably received by intellectuals of the time and even became the conceptual basis for the practical implementation of civil religion. Its manifestations were seen not only in D. Williams' attempt to compile a non-sectarian philosophical liturgy capable of uniting members of all Christian denominations in a common worship service, but also in the cult of the Supreme Being introduced by M. Robespierre during the French Revolution. Both attempts failed, but this did not diminish public attention to ideas and practices that could integrate secular society in the following centuries.

C o n c l u s i o n s . The renewal of interest in the idea of civil religion, compromised by the ritual practices of the Jacobins, and its return to scientific circulation took place in the early twentieth century under the influence of E. Durkheim's research. In the process of searching for mechanisms of social unity, the scientist argued that religion is primarily a system of collective ideas and practices that unite people into communities, and therefore it exists in a modified form even in secularized societies. This idea of the scientist became an impetus for understanding religious reality and even stimulated the return of the concept of "civil religion" to the world intellectual discourse. As the American sociologist R. Bellah has shown quite well, it represents the unity of political and religious values, while contributing to the emergence of an emotionally colored and universally recognized vision of the historical experience of the people.  Civil religion aims to unite society, but in countries with a complex history or a multinational population, the values, moral guidelines, or ideals it offers can cause social tension.