Beyond the Conflict Paradigm: A Complementarity Thesis for Religion-Secular Relations

Beyond the Conflict Paradigm: A Complementarity Thesis for Religion-Secular Relations In recent decades, claims of escalating conflict and polarization between religious and secular camps seem to be materializing, occupying a central position in both political and academic discourse. This polarized perspective, often termed the "God Gap", narrows scholarly attention exclusively to points of friction and discord. This presentation seeks to restore the perspective of complementarity to the center of political and sociological analysis. The core principle of this perspective is that instead of viewing religion and secularism as forces on an inevitable collision course, we should consider the complementarity thesis as a concise conceptual alternative. The thesis argues that the encounter between religious tradition and secular modernity is not merely a locus of conflict, but a potential source of synergy and mutual reinforcement. At the heart of this research is the development of a conceptual typology of recurrent mechanisms - institutional and conceptual patterns, past and present, that facilitate the integration of these worldviews and their subsequent political implications. The study identifies and analyzes mechanisms such as political accommodation, neutral and evenhanded governance, institutional adjustment, and mutual elucidation and public translation, as well as mutual challenge that spurs joint growth. In addition, the paper will include brief historical illustrations to demonstrate where and how these recurrent mechanisms have worked in practice.