Abstract
Civil religion is not only a symbolic expression of national coherence;
it is often also an arena of conflict, where different actors promote their
own ideological interpretation of the same events. This will be illustrated
through an analysis of a conflict in Denmark in November 2012, where a
Muslim majority of a housing association decided to abandon the tradition
of having a Christmas tree. The events and the resulting public debate
were reported in more than 650 articles and commentaries in the printed
press alone, and the debate divided politicians and the public on issues of
national traditions, integration, and religion. A Christmas tree is an important
civil-religious symbol in Denmark, and this may explain why the affair
became hotly debated. The different commentaries from the printed press
are classified and analysed from the perspective that civil religion has two
complementary dimensions, that of religion and that of nation. The classification
is illustrated in a new graphical model of the civil-religious space
between religion and nation.
it is often also an arena of conflict, where different actors promote their
own ideological interpretation of the same events. This will be illustrated
through an analysis of a conflict in Denmark in November 2012, where a
Muslim majority of a housing association decided to abandon the tradition
of having a Christmas tree. The events and the resulting public debate
were reported in more than 650 articles and commentaries in the printed
press alone, and the debate divided politicians and the public on issues of
national traditions, integration, and religion. A Christmas tree is an important
civil-religious symbol in Denmark, and this may explain why the affair
became hotly debated. The different commentaries from the printed press
are classified and analysed from the perspective that civil religion has two
complementary dimensions, that of religion and that of nation. The classification
is illustrated in a new graphical model of the civil-religious space
between religion and nation.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Implicit Religion |
| Volume | 20 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| Pages (from-to) | 127–148 |
| Number of pages | 22 |
| ISSN | 1463-9955 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2017 |