The Religious and Theological Meaning of the Reflexive Ego as the Subject of the Political Resistance to the Risk Society in Perspective of Beck’s “A God of One’s Own”

Main Article Content

Choi, Tae-Kwan

Abstract

This study is aimed to describe the religious and theological implications of Ulrich Beck's reflexive self to the face of COVID-19. In his book Risk Society and Global Risk Society, Beck defines a society in which risk is distributed as a risk society, unlike an industrial society in which goods are distributed. This paper finds alternatives to overcome the reality of potential risks being unevenly distributed. Thus, it explains the possibility of the path of global citizenship in the relationship between one's own god and introspective self, which Beck found in the Jewish woman Etty Hillesum, a Holocaust victim. Emphasizing the ideology of global citizenship, traditional religions like the Catholic church use mass media to broaden their political influence. Beck seeks political resistance and practice through the path of self-revealed reflection through his own relationship with God. In religious individualism, he suggests a new way of reflection and world citizenship because the reflexive- self is a religious force that enables political determination of potential risk between one's incompetence and God's incompetence, and resistance to the state's power to disproportionately distribute the risk. In Beck's perception of reflexive self, this study finds the religious and theological possibilities of a new self-religion. While traditional religions are trapped in their own absoluteness and neglect realistic social problems, the way of self-reflection in self-religion leads them beyond their absoluteness to political and social responsibility. God's return does not mean just a simple representation of traditional religions, but rather a call to resist to potential risk. Therefore, This thesis is to argue that Beck's view that the traditional religions in the age of COVID- 19 perceived the problems of religions as not a problem of post-modern society but a reflection of modernization formed on the basis of risk society can give clear meaning to the existing religions. On the other hand, it also explores the possibility of a dialogue of religions in which Beck's introspective ego can be encountered in a relationship with Christianity as a cultural religion in the political resistance to the risk society. Furthermore, the religious and theological meaning of a religious individual as the basis of the reflexive- self is found in relation to other religions. Finally, in the face of a risk society, this paper examines what Korean theology can contribute to cooperate with other religions. In particular, this paperasks and answers whether Christian church can overcome self-centeredness and move forward with cooperation with secular clergy in relation to global citizenship.

Article Details

Section
Articles