Research On Religious Norm From The Perspective Of Legal Culture

Adopting the methodology of combining history and arguments, jurisprudence analysis, the paper intends to interpret the basic questions of religious norm and explore the survival of contemporary religious norm by studying its meanings and classifications, cultural basis and evolvement, the manifestation of vigorous traditional religious norm and its reasons, and things like the current situation and prospects of contemporary religious norm from the perspective of legal culture. In general, the reasons of the survival and holding vigor of religious norm in traditional society lies on flexible interpretation and dialogues .So, religious norm need creative transformation in the circumstance of modernization and globalization at present. Religious organization must be orientated as "the third sector", and religious norm as civil social norm. Combining of communion autonomy and rule by law is the condition of religious norm survival. In addition, it is necessary approach to conduct dialogue in the religion area.Aside from introduction and conclusion, the paper includes the following seven chapters:Chapter I Meanings and classifications of religious norm. From the viewpoint of legal culture, religious norm belong to legal culture. There are three levels in the religious norm. First, it is a kind of social norms. It is the basis of religious organization and the externalization and normalization of religious belief. Second, it is the behavioral pattern observed by religious group and its members; it is a kind of management mode with its aim to construct religious civilized order. Third, it is both an order system and a meaning system. As a mode of legal culture, religious norm is the normalized living style of religious groups and believers; it is both a traditional heritage and a current cultural phenomenon. According to politics-religions relations, religious norm can be classified into four types: first, religious norm as internal norm of religious organization, such as the commandments in Buddhism or Taoism; second, religious norm as national life style, such as Judaism torah or Hinduism law; third, religious norm under politics-religion union system, like Islamic law; fourth, religious norm under politics-religion separation system, as Canon law in Middle-Age.Chapter II Cultural basis and evolvement of religious norm. Firstly, the paper explores the social and cultural basis of religious norm with the conclusion that the emergence and existence of religious norm result from the need to maintain religious organization; the content of religious norm comes from society; the limit and human knowledge and primitive thinking mode constitute the cognitive basis of religious norm; the religiousness and religious sense of human being form the humane basis of religious norm; the solution to survival anxiety and pursuit of meaning of life form the emotive basis of religious norm; asceticism is the cultural basis of religious norm. Secondly, the paper gives an explanation to the evolution process and law of religious norm. It concludes that religious norm experience the evolutionary process from primitive religious norm, to ancient state-nation religious norm, and then to world religious norm, which accompanies the ethic degree increasing trend.Chapter III Rule features of religious norm. Compared with state law and unwritten law, religious norm is characterized as follows: from the norm origin, religious norm is regarded by its believers as being sacred and takes human piety for god as its effective basis. From its content, religious norm mainly regulates two relations: god to human relations and human to human relations. Religious norm not only regulates human external behavior, but their spiritual world. It is regarded as the contract binding the pious object and human beings; religious commandment is characterized by piety and humaneness. From its form, religious norm manifests itself in the human to gcd obligatory norms, with the mixed, extensive and integrative features. The conservativeness of religious norm makes it necessary to interpret and establish different academic disciplines according to different interpretation methods.Chapter IV Management features of religious norm. As a kind of management mode, the objective of religious norm is to construct religious civilized system. From the viewpoint of authoritative organization, the god is regarded as the legislator, executor, supervisor and arbitrator. In fact, every religion has its set religious organization to settle its problems through different channels. From the management mode, on one side, religious norm plays its role by its believer's sense of self-discipline; on the other side, by external compulsive force. That is, as a social management mode, it includes both heteronomous factors and self-disciplinary elements, mainly characterized by being transferred from external compulsive force to its internal self-discipline. From its punishment mechanism, religious norm is characterized by certainty, mechanism and dualism. In addition, there appears the interaction phenomenon among different management modes which complement each other.Chapter V Values of religious norm. The values of religious norm are shown as follows: religious norm regards belief as the starting point and its core, with the two aspects closely interrelated and mutually influenced. To its pious believers, religious norm is the externalization of religious belief which incorporates their respects and adoration. As a kind of behavioral pattern and management mode, religious norm also has sanctification and legalization, ultimate solicitude and personality forming and cultural space constructing values.Chapter VI Institutional religions of tradition China: an example. The paper thinks the patriarchal traditional religion, institutional religion and folk religion complement each other and constitute the cubic structure of traditional Chinese social religious system. In the politics-religion relations, superiority of royalty is the centralized reflection of the centralization of state power of the autocratic monarchy reigning, the religious organization and its norms always rely on their position. The institutional religion must undergo flexible interpretation and creative transformation, the dialogue and communication between different norms, rely on royal power and state law to supervise and dominate in order to survive and maintain vigor.Chapter VII Creative transformation of contemporary religious norm. Under the background of modernization and globalization, there appeais secular and multiplex trend; the current social transformation of China incurs to some extent "religious zeal" and also makes the survival of religious norm face crisis. On one side, the freedom of religious belief and the principle of separation between politics and religion require religious organization and its norms manage affairs on its own and at the same time accept the legal supervision of governmental organizations. That means combining of communion autonomy and rule by law is the condition of religious norm survival. On the other side, it is the necessary means for the survival and development of religious norm to clear its nature and position, undergo its own creative transformation, and conduct dialogue and communication at the same time.