Political Probe
Military Officers, Command Authority, and Liberal Democracy: What Role for Faith?
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Christopher Eberle
I reflect on religious influence in the social role of military officers in a liberal democracy. One feature that defines that social role is command authority: constitutive of being an officer in the military is having the authority to issue orders that generate moral and legal obligations that are binding on subordinates. These orders can be quite coercive: disobedience can be punished by fines, demotion, imprisonment, expulsion, and the like. Given its impact on the well-being of subordinates, an officer ought to exercise command authority over others only given adequate reason to do so. But what counts as an adequate reason? Might a religious reason qualify? Correlatively, as state officials, may military officers determine how to exercise command authority by having recourse to their religious convictions? Must they restrain themselves from using their authority in ways that depend decisively on their faith commitments? No: although the exercise of command authority ought to be constrained in various important ways -- liberal values, relevant legislation, military regulation, and superior orders, military officers may be guided by their faith commitments as they exercise command authority within those constraints. More particularly, an officer may direct an order to subordinates, and thereby bind them morally and legally, even though that order depends decisively for its justification on a religious rationale. I will explicate and defend these claims by reflecting on a number of cases from recent military history: Prayer in Ramadi, Abortion in Diego Garcia, and Tactics in Fallujah.
Featured The Religious Legacy from the Papacy of John Paul II in Defining Polish Identity
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Anastasia Kulaga
In the 1990s, countries like Poland in Eastern Europe could no longer sustain the instability of Soviet rule and were eager to gain independence. The collapse of Soviet domination in Poland after 1989 allowed the country to democratize politically and restore religious freedom. John Paul II used this moment to reignite religion within Poland’s socio-cultural fabric, reminding the nation of its deep-rooted Catholic traditions. By integrating religiosity into Poland’s major political movement, Solidarność, John Paul II succeeded at fostering a stronger religious consciousness among the Polish people. During John Paul II’s papacy, individuals' admiration for him came from his presence during the fall of Communism and his influence afterwards. The positive association between John Paul II and Catholicism made individuals in Poland increasingly subscribe to Catholicism and consider it an integral part of their Polish identity. The research considers how John Paul II's papacy strengthened the role of the Catholic Church in Polish societies as an integral part of Polish identity.
Christianity's Decline in France and the Future of Democracy
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Eric Touya De Marenne
My paper considers the decline of Christianly in France and its possible consequences for the future of democracy. It also calls into question the viability of any society without the contribution of the unifying axis of a religion. Émile Durkheim infers that the sacralization of the social bond in collective religious feeling constitutes a necessary foundation for any society. According to him, religion establishes a higher principle of community: “All the great social institutions are born from religion. It has engendered everything that is essential in society.” My aim is to examine the relation between Christianity and the development of democracy considering Durkheim, Chateaubriand, and Tocqueville, from a historical perspective, and through the more recent work of Marcel Gauchet and Emmanuel Todd. Is a society viable without the unifying axis of a religion? What impact can the current decline of Christianity in France and Western Europe have on the future of democracy?
Roman Catholic Womenpriests: Creating Communities, Challenging Authorities, and Constructing Spaces of (Digital) Activism
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Giulia Evolvi
Catholic feminism is getting increasing scholarly attention (Giorgi & Palmisano, 2020). Against the backdrop of Catholic groups forming alliances with far-right parties in anti-abortion and anti-LGBTQ+ efforts (Lavizzari & Prearo, 2018), some Catholics engage in activism to promote gender equality. Specifically, this paper focuses on Roman Catholic Womenpriests (RCWP), an organization of women who are ordained priests in opposition to the Vatican (Peterfeso, 2020). Through 24 interviews with members of RCWP and sister organizations Women’s Ordination Conference (WOC) and Women’s Ordination Worldwide (WOW), as well as a qualitative and quantitative analysis of WOC’s Instagram account, I explore the following questions: How do women priests conceptualize their religiosity and their relationship with the Vatican? What kind of activism do they engage with? What is the role of digital media? Engaging with literature on digital religion, communities, and authorities (Campbell & Tsuria, 2021), this study illustrates three main findings: 1) The formation of alternative religious communities is crucial to the interviewees’ experience, especially because many are excommunicated by the Vatican; 2) For these women, religion acts as inspiration for social justice and for creating safe spaces for the vulnerable, such LGBTQ+ people 3) While these groups’ social media pages do not have great outreach, they are essential to organize transnational actions and constitute a venue to discuss feminist theologies and challenge religious authorities. In conclusion, the online and offline activism of RCWP, WOC and, WOW is political in both criticizing Catholic authority and promoting social justice for the vulnerable within society.
