Bellah

Question 1

Bellah - How does Bellah describe the people?

Answer 1

As a blind multitude who are able to recognise good, but not always what is good for them

Question 2

Bellah - Explain the law-giver

Answer 2

The law-giver in civil religion is the president, who uses the idea of the sacred to persuade the people. The law-giver must manipulate the civil religion in order to unite people within it

Question 3

Bellah - What are the benefits of civil religion?

Answer 3

Mobilise deep levels of personal motivation for the attainment of national goals

Legitimises the people and their belief in a unifying religion

Question 4

Bellah - How does civil religion relate to Protestantism?

Answer 4

Belief that civil religion is used in order to carry out God’s will on the earth, and that there is a fundamental obligation to do this effectively - concept of the calling

Question 5

Bellah - What is the God of civil religion like?

Answer 5

He is lawful, and unlike other gods, he is interested in the people

Question 6

Bellah - Why does civil religion evolve?

Answer 6

Because there is a fear that civil religion is vulnerable to imperialism and institutions of power, so it evolves to accommodate this

Question 7

Bellah - What did Bellah say about civil religion and secularisation?

Answer 7

That the link is difficult to make because there has never been a president who was anything other than publicly Catholic or Protestant, so it is hard to know if it could ever become secular

Question 8

Bellah - What is civil religion?

Answer 8

Civil religion is the state being imbued with religiousness, with an emphasis on God. Civil religions have their own beliefs, symbols, and rituals which create a collectivity