PALLADIUM 15: State Religion is now available to all Palladium members. Subscribe today to receive your copy of our fall 2024 print edition, featuring in-depth essays examining the intertwined history and present of religion and power, as well as an on-the-ground report from China, where Wael Taji talks to those attending services in unregistered house churches disapproved of by the communist party. New religions have always reshaped society, and at times formed the social backbone of new elites; this is why no elite has truly been neutral on any religion. No society has featured only one religion. No society has featured none.

Life intrinsically carries a weight of existence that has to be resolved somehow. Not all metaphysical claims are necessarily explicitly stated, however. The differing streams of Christian theology and Enlightenment philosophy made such claims explicitly, but made them a matter of the public—a res publica in the most literal and necessarily political sense.

The reason of state was a fission of private and public in early modernity. This reason grew in power and made the wars first sparked by the disputes of the theological reformation of the Holy Roman Empire much more intense and prolonged. It presented itself as the answer for putting out the flames. It conceptually allowed a private escape where rulers found themselves without the desire to make windows into men’s souls, or be so examined themselves. Perhaps advanced theology was the original existential risk and the only solution for a time was postponing it.

The escape to the private was not new in humanity’s long history. Many philosophers, Greek and otherwise, had struggled before concluding that fundamental truth is always at war with society, so one must make their own peace, and perhaps while fundamental truths can be explicitly reasoned, they cannot be given. The modern separation between church and state was formed by extending this not just to rulers but subjects. What we legally call religious freedom is in practice a kind of freedom of confession. In turn, this logically but not necessarily legally carries a freedom of speech.

This orthodoxy is complicated by orthopraxy. Many religious traditions rest on “right action” through laws, customs, rituals, social norms, and ways of being. This can be seen in Christianity, but also Jewish, Confucian, Buddhist, and Hindu communities. Sometimes this orthopraxy is itself explicated into rules or judgments even in the absence of philosophy. The history of Islamic civilization shows orthopraxy as a power both with and without orthodoxy. 

Fundamentally, neither orthodoxy nor orthopraxy can be fully avoided by civilizations or individuals. The barrier between church and state in the Western world is best understood as a settlement between factions of the same kind, each with their own competing metaphysical thesis, moral values, and social norms. These settlements are negotiated, reformed, and redrawn around the world and will continue to be so deep into the future. 

PALLADIUM 15: State Religion is our cautious and measured look into the distant future when we can no longer dally on the questions of what is the state of our religion and what is the religion of our state. Like all our print editions, PALLADIUM 15 is a luxury creation designed for aesthetic enjoyment and focused thinking. It is a gift for our members and not for sale. Become a Palladium member today to receive your copy.

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*All members also receive benefits of lower tiers. New subscribers will receive upcoming quarterly print editions. PALLADIUM 15: State Religion ships internationally until December 21st. Our print publication is a quarterly newsletter that informs members about our public interest research, reporting, and analysis.

Featuring

Under the Rule of Amida Buddha by Ethan Edwards. In the midst of Japan’s chaotic Sengoku era, a radical Buddhist sect grew into a powerful movement that secured autonomy. Yet, unable to direct itself, it was outmaneuvered by the Shogunate.

Inside the House Church Movement in China by Wael Taji. A visit to an underground Shanghai house church gives an inside look into how millions of Chinese citizens worship. This new generation makes its mark in a regime suspicious of foreign subversion.

A Papal Revolt Created Europe’s First Bureaucracy by Jonathan Culbreath. In the 11th century, Pope Gregory VII fought local rulers who dominated the church. To counter them, he created Europe’s first modern bureaucracies and changed the organization of power forever.

Rebuilding the Middle East: Christians, Shi’ites, and Secularists Join Forces by Stephen Borthwick. Middle Eastern Christians have been decimated by years of conflict. The coming generation’s politics is now defined by broad and unusual coalitions, even Bashar al-Assad and groups like Hezbollah.

After Freedom: Catholic Political Theology in the Age of Liberal Crisis by Ash Milton. Western Catholics of the 20th century sought to engage the liberal world order to put conflicts with modernity to rest. As the geographic center of the church moves, a theology of confrontation returns.

How to Find Meaning When Everything is Power by Mary Harrington. Unexamined “objectivity” isn’t coming back, but meaning need not be a casualty. Rigorous post-modernism grounds social meaning in the interconnected experience of our shared society.

Creating West Coast Buddhism by Ethan Edwards. In the 1960s, Buddhism found a new spiritual homeland in California. It was the last step in a transformation that began generations before.

Everyone’s Existential Crisis by Miya Perry. The fundamental instability of collective knowledge is exacerbated by developments in technology and infrastructure, leaving us all grappling with existential crisis.