The Taming of Irreligion. Essay on the Abuse of the Non-Sacred Idea
The Taming of Irreligion. Essay on the Abuse of the Non-Sacred Idea

Summary/Abstract: I am going to outline the problem of the disintegration of the Latin hierarchical opposition religio/irreligio, showing the taming process of irreligion in the (post)modern culture. This marginal phenomenon – situated by ancient Romans in the domain of negativity – is a reactive cultural trend perceptible only in context. According to modern sociology, irreligion is an attitude towards religion which is not a complete rejection of belief (disbelief), but rather a selective lack of belief – unbelief. How did it come about, is it possible today to consider the hypothesis that the above-mentioned opposition functions as an operational unit, generating contemporary sociomorphism – often unconsciously, within the framework of an-tagonistic cooperation? In this view irreligion is not only a contamination of the source of the Latin tradition (religio), but it is subject to demarginalization and adopted as a tool of controlling religion – as its negative or its undeserved, unwanted assistant in the realization of its soteriological mission. I would argue that the increasingly numerous and less and less surprising micro-provocations of the irregulares – some of which were presented during the Brussels exhibition of Irreligia/ Irreligion (2001/2002) – although often intended to be icono-clastic (lately in a soft version), have targeted only the idolatrous and imperial dimension of religion. Therefore, they cannot desecrate the revealed faith.

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