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ese society. We can, therefore, say that religious changes which run parallel with modernization are to be characterized as a kind of secularization, if by secularization we mean that formerly existing religious beliefs and practices are abandoned. However, there is a danger that by linking modernization and secularization one is stimulating the idea of a general decrease and a final extinction of religion. This idea is fostered by some evolutionary schemes suggesting that the intellectual progress which is supposed to be implied by modernization will finally lead to the adoption of a "scientific" world-view in which there is no more place for religion. In other words, this theory would not be content to define modernization as the formation of new social structures and cultural values but would try to indicate the direction of this development. As usual in such cases the direction of progress leads to the position of the "enlightened" observer.
On the other hand, as we have seen, there is strong empirical evidence for secularizing tendencies in present day Taiwan. What is more, it can be shown that these tendencies are directly connected with certain aspects of modernization, i.e. industrialization, urbanization and westernization. In the light of these facts it might seem as if the various forms of religion which can still be observed in Taiwan are just survivals of the traditional culture. To the same degree that modernization turns the traditional society into a new, "modern" society, one could argue, the remaining forms of traditional religion will also disappear.
In the following parts of this paper I shall try to show that this conception results from a one-sided view of the religious changes which are actually going on in Taiwan. To do this I first give a short description of a religious movement that enjoys much popularity among the lower and middle classes. I hope to show that the teachings of this movement, though it certainly is part of the Chinese religious tradition, contain elements which reflect the changing social and cultural conditions of the present time. My argument is that the process of modernization, which unquestionably entails secularizing tendencies, also leads in another direction, i.e. to the renaissance of institutional religions and popular religious movements. In the last two parts of the paper a few suggestions will be made about the possible relationship of this renaissance to the modernization process.
Renaissance of institutional religions
As has been mentioned above, social changes in China affected
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HUMIRT SI IWART
ese society. We can, therefore, say that religious changes which run parallel with modernization are to be characterized as a kind of secular- ization, if by secularization we mean that formerly existing religious beliefs and practices are abandoned. However, there is a danger that by linking modernization and secularization one is stimulating the idea of a general decrease and a final extinction of religion. This idea is fostered by some evolutionary schemes suggesting that the intellec- tual progress which is supposed to be implied by modernization will finally lead to the adoption of a "scientific" world-view in which there is no more place for religion. In other words, this theory would not be content to define modernization as the formation of new social structures and cultural values but would try to indicate the direction of this development. As usual in such cases the direction of progress leads to the position of the "enlightened" observer.
On the other hand, as we have seen, there is strong empirical evidence for secularizing tendencies in present day Taiwan. What is more, it can be shown that these tendencies are directly connected with certain aspects of modernization, i.e. industrialization, urban- ization and westernization. In the light of these facts it might seem as if the various forms of religion which can still be observed in Taiwan are just survivals of the traditional culture. To the same degree that modernization turns the traditional society into a new, "modern" society, one could argue, the remaining forms of traditional religion wil also disappear.
In the following parts of this paper I shall try to show that this conception results from a one-sided view of the religious changes which are actually going on in Taiwan. To do this I first give a short description of a religious movement that enjoys much popularity among the lower and middle classes. I hope to show that the teachings of this movement, though it certainly is part of the Chinese religious tradition, contain elements which reflect the changing social and cultural conditions of the present time. My argument is that the process of modernization, which unquestionably entails secularizing tendencies, also leads in another direction, i.e. to the renaissance of institutional religions and popular religious movements. In the last two parts of the paper a few suggestions will be made about the possible relationship of this renaissance to the modernization process.
Renaissance of institutional religions
As has been mentioned above, social changes in China affected
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