Resurgence of Religion

We began the second half of the semester with some readings on secularism and secularization. In particular we read about “the secularization theory” and the perceived intersection between the decline of religion, secular society, and modernity. Having spent the last several weeks reading and thinking about religion and globalization, your final essay for the course will revisit this issue. It has become almost a cliché for academics and others to write about the “resurgence of religion” in the late 20th century and early 21st century. A few decades ago many of these same authors were writing about the decline of religion in the face of modernization, arguing that religion was declining as a historical force in the world and not a significant issue in global politics   Using two real world examples from course readings to support your argument (see note below), please answer the following question: Is there a “resurgence of religion” in the world as some now argue, or is the current focus on religion in global politics simply a temporary reaction to 9/11 and subsequent events? In other words, do the arguments that there is a global resurgence of religion reflect actual trends in the world, or is this so-called “resurgence” simply a bump along the road to the secularized world forecast by secularization theorists several decades ago?