Religion from above or faith from below? Religious factors in building a “harmonious society” – a Sino-Western analytical perspective

Fredrik Fällman
City University of Hong Kong

During the early 1990s the CPC leadership put forth the idea of “religion adapting to socialist society” (zongjiaoyushehuizhuyishehuixiangshiying). This concept is very interesting. During the course of history, religion has often “adapted” to society in one way or another, but not necessarily to serve the interests of any particular political entity. Religious adaptation in contemporary China seems to aim at promoting patriotism, reducing tension between believers and non-believers, and “downplay” certain religious teachings to pave way for a “harmonious society”.

In Northern Europe society has taken a different path than China and a strong welfare state has developed, sometimes called “the Nordic model.” Perhaps, it could also be called “a harmonious society.” The churches have played an important role in building a modern Nordic society, but not by the request of the government. It was rather a reaction to control and power structures. Driven by faith, individual Christians took political and social responsibility in a way that benefited development and perhaps even state formation. Today, however, Northern Europe is the most secularised region of the World. What is the role of religion and faith in this context?

In both China and the West people of faith speak out on social issues with a “prophetic” voice, and contribute to their societies. In this article I will make a preliminary investigation of some historical and current religious factors of social development in China and the West. I will also try to make a comparative analysis of the current situation, and the prospects for exchange and mutual learning.

自上而来的宗教或自下而出的信仰？建立“和谐社会”的宗教因素——中西角度的分析

杨富雷
香港城市大学

1990年代初中共提出了“宗教与社会主义社会相适应”政策。这概念很有意思。在历史的过程中，不同宗教时常以某种方式“与社会相适应”，但这不一定是为了服侍某一个政体。当代中国的宗教适应政策的目的好像是促进爱国主义、减少宗教信仰者和无宗教信仰者之间的紧张状态，也要“淡化”某些宗教教条，为“和谐社会”做好准备。

北欧社会走的是另外一条路：它们发展了强大的福利国家，有时被称为“北欧模式”。这可能也可以 说是“和谐”的社会。当代北欧社会的建立中，不同基督教教会发挥了重要作用，但这不是出于政府的要求。其实，它们的反应源于对管理和控制权的反感。受信仰 的带动，不少基督徒承担起他们的政治和社会责任，这有益于社会的发展，可能还有益于国家的形成。不过，当代北欧是世界上最世俗化的地区，在这种情况下，宗 教和信仰有什么角色？

中国和西方有信仰的人都会以“先知”的声音指出社会问题，为社会做贡献。在这篇文章中，我将初步研究中西社会发展的一些历史上和当前的宗教因素，并对比较分析当今中西社会的情况，以及互相交流、互相学习的可能性。