Prevailing Norms
Global Sectarianism and the Failure of Secularism
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Benedict Edward DeDominicis
Emotional attachments to the dignity and esteem of religious communities can also become particularly important as mass political participation characterizes the evolution of a national community. As mass politics becomes a characteristic feature of the political development process, religious-community attachments became particularly important in much of the world in the twentieth century. This polarization among religious and territorial national community attachments is most intense in the Middle East, but it is present throughout the world: witness the Christian political movement in the US, the influence of the Jewish right in Israel, and the Hindu nationalist movement in India. The members of the national community, however, who identify with the religious community but with a lesser level of emotional intensity will demonstrate a stronger inclination to view religion in doctrinal terms, and not as a national duty. Therefore, they will tend to resent, often with very great intensity, any moral diktat from religious leaders. A common consensus between these groups on the external and internal challenges to the national community commonly does not emerge. The result is the emergence of a sharp polarization between these two groups. They will come to view each other with great distaste, even leading to violence.
A Translation in the Political Field of a Deeply Felt Religious Faith: Eisenhower, Religious Cultural Heritage, and Nuclear Decisions in Crisis and in Peace
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Brian Muzas
Using archival and secondary sources, this paper examines President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s religious cultural heritage (RCH) and nuclear decisions. It connects his philosophical ethics, his philosophy of government, and his philosophical anthropology to a decision-making framework predicted to describe his nuclear decisions, namely a just war framework. It begins with a look at Eisenhower’s “Cross of Iron” speech, the Solarium exercise, and the New Look. It then explores his nuclear decisions during a series of Cold War nuclear crises. Next it treats in context his “Atoms for Peace” proposal to internationalize nuclear energy. Eisenhower’s decisions are indeed commensurate with a just war framework expected from his religious cultural heritage (RCH).
