On Republican Cornerstone Of Civil Religion

In1967, Bellah put forward his theory of Civil Religion, which inspired many disputes,discussions and interpretations. Some of them are full of insights, but many misunderstandingstill exist. Scholars criticized it and argued that this theory provided legalized excuse forpolitical governance. Therefore, Bellah lost confidence in the theory of Civil Religion andabandoned it. Actually, this is not the case. As the dual dimension of Civil Religion, the Biblemythical metaphors and republican virtues are indispensable. Civil Religion is connected withthe mythological history of the United States, and focus on the mundane problems. CivilReligion represents the covenant between God and man by combining the country’s affectionwith the worship of God. It is the highest embodiment of patriotism. This theory is rooted inthe American reality, flourishes the republican spirit, saves the republican spirit in danger, andremodels civic virtues. Specific historical background of the U.S. causes the developments ofindividualism, and various forms of fusion of American dream and individualism have takenplace now. Bellah noticed that swelling individualism engulfed the public spirit, destructedthe republican roots of the United States. Inappropriate pursue of freedom destroyed therepublican spirit, and procedural Republicanism evoked corruption. Based on these theoreticalreflections, Bellah tries to introduce Civil Religion, and uses it to evoke the inner virtue ofU.S. citizen. Republicanism reminds Civil Religion to concern the value of meaning, givingup the individual interests, use citizenship to build a "good society". This thesis attempts toanalyze the two-dimensions of Civil Religion and Civil Religion’s Republican root, discussesthe possibility of "good society". The paper also discusses Chinese Civil Religion in order tobroaden Bellah’s Civil Religion conception.Six parts are included in this thesis. Part one introduces the purposes and meaning of thisresearch. Part two interprets the dual dimensions of the Civil Religion-the Bible mythicalmetaphor and Roman republican virtues, and explains why this paper focuses on therepublican dimension. The third part analyses the relationship between republicanism andCivic Religion-Civil Religion comes from republicanism, and it is able to save therepublicanism in critical moment; Part IV analyzes Bellah’s theoretical target of CivilReligion, interpreting the way of Civil Religion save the republicanism and build the “goodsociety”; the fifth part analyzes the reason why Civil Religion suffered misunderstanding,then analyzes the possibility of Chinese Civil Religion; the final part is conclusion anddiscussion.