Religion Meets Modernity: Changes and Challenges

This article aims to delve into the mediatory role of religion in our contemporary world in that it investigates how religion is shaped by and shapes human beings in their encoun­ ter with modernity, its evolving characteristics, institutional ar­ rangements, multi-locational interests and ideological compul­ sions. To achieve this goal, it begins its inquiry by focusing on the genealogy of political secularism and demonstrates the pit­ falls of the 'wall of separation between state and religion’ and the implications it bears upon the treatment, space and situatedness religion obtains in different nation states at different historical times. It further discusses the relationship between European colonial powers and the notion of religion by highlighting how the modern sense o f religion emanating from Europe was proselytised, historicised and re-historicised in colonial coun­ tries since seventeenth century till our present times. The article also calls for the recognition of the proactive role of religion in the secular modem state, especially for its citizens who have become the unfortunate victims of the state’s policies and administrative decisions