Declinations of religion in modernity

Abstract

This article analyses the metamorphoses of the religious element in contemporary western societies. Acknowledging the idea that the constitution of a political community implies feelings of union and identification of religious character, I proceed to the definition of the concepts of secular religion, civil religion and political religion. I also argue that a political community, and the legitimisation of power and authority in a democracy, requires secular cults according to the imperatives proper to the formation of an open and cohesive society. Other contemporary cults, like the ones born of the illusions of technology, in the free market and in the trivialities of the mass media, are considered phenomena that render the sacred futile and impoverished.