Politics as religion

Emilio Gentile, an internationally re nowned authority on fascism and totali tarianism, argues that politics over the past two centuries has often taken on the features of religion, claiming as its own the preroga tive of defining the fundamental purpose and meaning of human life. Secular political enti ties such as the nation, the state, race, class, and the party became the focus of myths, rituals, and commandments and gradually be came objects of faith, loyalty, and reverence.

Gentile examines this "sacralization of politics," as he defines it, both historically and theoretically, seeking to identify the different ways in which political regimes as diverse as fascism, communism, and liberal democracy have ultimately depended, like religions, on faith, myths, rites, and symbols.

Gentile maintains that the sacralization of politics as a modern phenomenon is distinct from the politicization of religion that has arisen from militant religious fundamental ism. Sacralized politics may be democratic, in the form of a civil religion, or it may be totalitarian, in the form of a political religion. Using this conceptual distinction, and moving from America to Europe, and from Africa to Asia, Gentile presents a unique comparative history of civil and political religions from the American and French Revolutions, through nationalism and socialism, democracy and totalitarianism, and fascism and communism, up to the present day. It is also a fascinating book for understanding the sacralization of politics after 9/11.