The political appeal of religion: A new awareness of what is missing

International audience ; Much of philosophical reflections about the relations between religion and politics fall within the modern liberal tradition of religious restraint, which generated both the backlash of a new postmodern postliberal traditionalism and the critical turn in the study of religion. Moving beyond the real or imagined isomorphism of religion and politics, I show how the political functions of religion are closely connected to the anthropological reflections about culture and politics. The aim is to provide political theory with a “new awareness of what is missing” by revealing that the deeply political significance of religion is not merely an instrument used in political contexts for political purposes. Ultimately, I argue that religion is a single culture-dependent set of systematic relationships, or a total social fact that is both a cognitive function of the human mind and a political function of the human society, but which remain hidden behind the moral discourses of religious advocates, political leaders, and academic scholars.