Chapter 3

Question 1

Nota bene pt. 1:

Answer 1

1. ) many scholars considered secularization of politics one of the basic necessary steps for political development
2. ) modernization theorists viewed organization religion as an impediment to development. in response to their efforts their has been a religious resurgence in LDC’s since the 1970’s and its’ role has intensified in the political arena
3. ) Since the fall of Soviet Communism, radical Islamic fundamentalism has been widely perceived as the biggest threat to Western security
4. ) most western nations are less church-going than Americans but have less separation between church and state
5. ) impact of smaller religions (Protestantism, Confucianism, etc.) on politics in LDC’s is limited
6. ) differences in non-hierarchical religions (like Buddhism) have hardly ever provoked violence, but elsewhere, esp. in some Muslim countries, differences between branches have been intensely violent
7. ) Latin American Catholics have both supported fascists and fought as Marxist guerrillas “in the name of God”

Question 2

Islamism

Answer 2

Islamic fundamentalism and revivalism, bring Islamic faith back to strict, fundamental interpretations of the Quran

Question 3

theocracy

Answer 3

political systems dominated by religious leaders and institutions

Question 4

the four global religions

Answer 4

(in order of adherence) Catholicism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism

Question 5

Theravada Buddism

Answer 5

older, southern Buddhism, practiced in Burma, Sri Lanka (Ceylon), Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and parts of Vietnam

Question 6

Mahayana Buddhism

Answer 6

newer, northern Buddhism, practiced in China, Japan, Korea, most of Vietnam, and Tibet

Question 7

Sunni Muslims

Answer 7

dominant group in Islam, look down upon Shi’ites, resented for their political and economic domination

Question 8

Shi’ite Muslims

Answer 8

minority Islamic group, with a hierarchical clergy headed by the imam, who are believed to be direct descendants of the Prophet Muhammed, a “cult of death and martyrdom”, see themselves as “champions of the downtrodden” and they glorify suffering and self-flagellation

Question 9

Nota bene pt. 2:

Answer 9

1. ) more nuanced views say that religion can both inhibit and encourage development (Confucianist work ethic aiding in rapid modernization of East Asia)
2. ) individual countries have defied the notion that fundamentalists are peasants (most involved in terrorist attacks are well-educated middle-class professionals, doctors, etc.)
3. ) Iran, a well-known theocracy, has become an international outcast b/c of its repression of civil liberties, persecution of minorities, support for terrorism, etc. but Tibet, also a well-known theocracy under the Dalai Lama, was fully supported and people were horrified when the Chinese absorbed it and imposed a secular state. => clearly, separation of church and state isn’t the problem so much as what the way in which religion uses its political influence when in power

Question 10

secularization

Answer 10

removal of religion from politics. modernization theory argues both:empirically, saying that as western nations modernized, the state and the church stopped interfering in each other’s realms; and normatively, arguing that secularization is desirable because: increases religious freedom (reducing likelihood of state persecuting religious minorities) and allows state to make decisions without religious bias.

has often gotten religious backlash when forced too quickly, western impositions in Iran precipitated a religious revival

Question 11

mullah

Answer 11

Islamic cleric