Sociology & Political Science
Religion in the Post-Secular Public Sphere: What Happens When God Refuses to Leave Politics?
The secularization thesis predicted that modernization would push religion out of public life. Instead, religion has returned to the public sphere with force—creating governance challenges that neither secular liberalism nor religious authoritarianism can resolve. Four papers from Kosovo, Indonesia, Ghana, and the Netherlands examine the post-secular condition.
By Sean K.S. Shin
This blog summarizes research trends based on published paper abstracts. Specific numbers or findings may contain inaccuracies. For scholarly rigor, always consult the original papers cited in each post.
The secularization thesis—the prediction that modernization, urbanization, and education would gradually push religion out of public life—dominated sociology of religion for most of the 20th century. The thesis was compelling in Western Europe, where church attendance, religious identification, and the political influence of religious institutions declined steadily from the 1960s onward.
But the secularization thesis failed as a universal prediction. Religion did not retreat from public life in the United States, Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, or most of Asia. If anything, the political influence of religious movements has increased in many contexts: evangelical Christianity in US politics, political Islam across Muslim-majority countries, Hindu nationalism in India, and Buddhist nationalism in Myanmar and Sri Lanka. Even in "secular" Western Europe, debates over Islamic headscarves, mosque construction, and religious education reveal that religion remains a contested presence in public life.
The concept of the "post-secular" emerges from this empirical failure: the recognition that modern societies must find ways to accommodate religious commitments in public discourse, not merely tolerate them in private life.
Worldview Education
Miedema (2025) reconsiders the role of religion in the public sphere and the position of worldview education in the context of a post-secular era. The paper emphasizes that religion cannot be entirely excluded from public life; rather, it occupies a central place in individual and collective quests for meaning.
The worldview education approach treats religious and non-religious worldviews (atheism, humanism, secularism) as equally valid frameworks for meaning-making, deserving equal attention in educational curricula. This is a departure from both the secular model (which excludes religion from public education) and the confessional model (which privileges one religious tradition). The worldview approach creates space for genuine encounter between different ways of understanding the world—including encounter between religious and secular perspectives.
Kosovo: Legal Struggles for Religious Neutrality
Murati (2025) examines freedom of religion in Kosovo, a state that navigates its constitutional commitment to secularism within a complex post-war, post-Ottoman, ethnically divided context. The revival of religion in post-war Yugoslav countries has reshaped the social and legal landscape, raising critical questions about the balance between secularism and religious freedom.
Kosovo's case illustrates the challenge of secular governance in a society where religious identity is entangled with ethnic and political identity. In the former Yugoslavia, Orthodox Christianity, Catholicism, and Islam map onto Serbian, Croatian, and Bosniak/Albanian ethnic identities respectively. "Religious freedom" in this context is not merely about individual worship but about community identity, political loyalty, and post-conflict reconciliation.
Indonesian Post-Secularism
Al Walid, Miri, and Norman (2025) discuss the relationship between philosophy and religion in the thought of Abdurrahman Wahid (Gus Dur), framed within the context of post-secularism. Gus Dur challenges the rigid dichotomy between philosophy and religion and encourages an inclusive and dialogical approach.
The Indonesian case is significant because Indonesia is the world's largest Muslim-majority country with a constitutionally secular state (Pancasila), an active democratic system, and a tradition of religious pluralism. Gus Dur's thought—which draws on both Islamic scholarship and Western philosophy—represents a model of post-secular governance that neither subordinates religion to secular rationality nor subordinates secular governance to religious authority.
Ghana: Prophetic Communication and State Power
Tweneboah (2026) explores the role of pastor-prophets and prophecy in Ghana's public sphere by examining the Ghana Police Service's 2021 directive against "negative" prophetic communication. The paper argues that this directive reveals tensions between the state's constitutional responsibility to maintain public order and citizens' rights to religious expression.
The Ghanaian case raises a question that democratic societies have not resolved: when religious speech enters the public sphere, should it be treated as political speech (subject to normal democratic contestation), as protected religious expression (subject to enhanced constitutional protection), or as potentially harmful speech (subject to regulation when it incites harm)? The answer determines how democratic governance interacts with religious authority in societies where prophetic pronouncements carry political weight.
Claims and Evidence
<
| Claim | Evidence | Verdict |
|---|
| Secularization has pushed religion out of public life globally | All papers: religion persists in public sphere across diverse contexts | ❌ Refuted (as universal claim) |
| Post-secular governance requires accommodating (not just tolerating) religion | Miedema (2025), Al Walid et al. (2025): theoretical frameworks for accommodation | ✅ Supported |
| Constitutional secularism resolves religion-state tensions | Murati (2025): Kosovo's constitutional secularism coexists with religious-ethnic tensions | ❌ Refuted |
| Religious speech in the public sphere can be governed like any other speech | Tweneboah (2026): prophetic communication has unique political effects that require distinct analysis | ⚠️ Uncertain |
Implications
The post-secular condition demands governance frameworks that neither exclude religion from public life (which is empirically impossible and normatively contested) nor privilege any single religious tradition (which is democratically unacceptable in plural societies). The challenge is to create institutional spaces where religious and secular worldviews can encounter each other as equals—contributing to public deliberation without dominating it.
The secularization thesis—the prediction that modernization, urbanization, and education would gradually push religion out of public life—dominated sociology of religion for most of the 20th century. The thesis was compelling in Western Europe, where church attendance, religious identification, and the political influence of religious institutions declined steadily from the 1960s onward.
But the secularization thesis failed as a universal prediction. Religion did not retreat from public life in the United States, Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, or most of Asia. If anything, the political influence of religious movements has increased in many contexts: evangelical Christianity in US politics, political Islam across Muslim-majority countries, Hindu nationalism in India, and Buddhist nationalism in Myanmar and Sri Lanka. Even in "secular" Western Europe, debates over Islamic headscarves, mosque construction, and religious education reveal that religion remains a contested presence in public life.
The concept of the "post-secular" emerges from this empirical failure: the recognition that modern societies must find ways to accommodate religious commitments in public discourse, not merely tolerate them in private life.
Worldview Education
Miedema (2025) reconsiders the role of religion in the public sphere and the position of worldview education in the context of a post-secular era. The paper emphasizes that religion cannot be entirely excluded from public life; rather, it occupies a central place in individual and collective quests for meaning.
The worldview education approach treats religious and non-religious worldviews (atheism, humanism, secularism) as equally valid frameworks for meaning-making, deserving equal attention in educational curricula. This is a departure from both the secular model (which excludes religion from public education) and the confessional model (which privileges one religious tradition). The worldview approach creates space for genuine encounter between different ways of understanding the world—including encounter between religious and secular perspectives.
Kosovo: Legal Struggles for Religious Neutrality
Murati (2025) examines freedom of religion in Kosovo, a state that navigates its constitutional commitment to secularism within a complex post-war, post-Ottoman, ethnically divided context. The revival of religion in post-war Yugoslav countries has reshaped the social and legal landscape, raising critical questions about the balance between secularism and religious freedom.
Kosovo's case illustrates the challenge of secular governance in a society where religious identity is entangled with ethnic and political identity. In the former Yugoslavia, Orthodox Christianity, Catholicism, and Islam map onto Serbian, Croatian, and Bosniak/Albanian ethnic identities respectively. "Religious freedom" in this context is not merely about individual worship but about community identity, political loyalty, and post-conflict reconciliation.
Indonesian Post-Secularism
Al Walid, Miri, and Norman (2025) discuss the relationship between philosophy and religion in the thought of Abdurrahman Wahid (Gus Dur), framed within the context of post-secularism. Gus Dur challenges the rigid dichotomy between philosophy and religion and encourages an inclusive and dialogical approach.
The Indonesian case is significant because Indonesia is the world's largest Muslim-majority country with a constitutionally secular state (Pancasila), an active democratic system, and a tradition of religious pluralism. Gus Dur's thought—which draws on both Islamic scholarship and Western philosophy—represents a model of post-secular governance that neither subordinates religion to secular rationality nor subordinates secular governance to religious authority.
Ghana: Prophetic Communication and State Power
Tweneboah (2026) explores the role of pastor-prophets and prophecy in Ghana's public sphere by examining the Ghana Police Service's 2021 directive against "negative" prophetic communication. The paper argues that this directive reveals tensions between the state's constitutional responsibility to maintain public order and citizens' rights to religious expression.
The Ghanaian case raises a question that democratic societies have not resolved: when religious speech enters the public sphere, should it be treated as political speech (subject to normal democratic contestation), as protected religious expression (subject to enhanced constitutional protection), or as potentially harmful speech (subject to regulation when it incites harm)? The answer determines how democratic governance interacts with religious authority in societies where prophetic pronouncements carry political weight.
Claims and Evidence
<
| Claim | Evidence | Verdict |
|---|
| Secularization has pushed religion out of public life globally | All papers: religion persists in public sphere across diverse contexts | ❌ Refuted (as universal claim) |
| Post-secular governance requires accommodating (not just tolerating) religion | Miedema (2025), Al Walid et al. (2025): theoretical frameworks for accommodation | ✅ Supported |
| Constitutional secularism resolves religion-state tensions | Murati (2025): Kosovo's constitutional secularism coexists with religious-ethnic tensions | ❌ Refuted |
| Religious speech in the public sphere can be governed like any other speech | Tweneboah (2026): prophetic communication has unique political effects that require distinct analysis | ⚠️ Uncertain |
Implications
The post-secular condition demands governance frameworks that neither exclude religion from public life (which is empirically impossible and normatively contested) nor privilege any single religious tradition (which is democratically unacceptable in plural societies). The challenge is to create institutional spaces where religious and secular worldviews can encounter each other as equals—contributing to public deliberation without dominating it.
References (4)
[1] Miedema, S. (2025). Worldview Education in A (Post-)Secular Age. Turkiye Egitim Arastirmalari Dergisi, 1729905.
[2] Murati, G. (2025). Freedom of Religion in Secular States: Kosovo’s Legal Struggles for Religious Neutrality. Religion & Human Rights, 20, 10056.
[3] Al Walid, K., Miri, M., & Norman, N.A. (2025). Philosophy and Religion in Abdurrahman Wahid's Post-Secularism Thought. Fikrah, 13(1), 28842.
[4] Tweneboah, S. (2026). “Share fake prophecies and be Jailed”: Religious Human Rights and the Regulation of Prophetic Communication in the Ghanaian Public Sphere. African Journal of Church History, Religion & Theology.