Can religion be rescued in the 21st century? On Erich Fromm’s religious humanism in an age of authoritarian populism

Abstract

In the recent years, much of the West has seen the rise of right-wing forms of authoritarian populism and their attacks on democracy and the multicultural societies. In many cases, such movements have recruited Christian traditions, ideas, and symbols into their nativist agenda. Nevertheless, the aspects of Christianity that have been functionalised have been primarily the ‘exterior’ of religion, wherein the humanistic core have all been neglected. On the basis of the Erich Fromm's understanding of the world religions' humanistic core, and informed by the Frankfurt School, I demonstrate the hollowness of the right-wing movements adoption of religion, and argue for a new form of humanistic-religious ecumenicism on the basis of the shared values, principles, and ideals that rest at the heart of religion and humanistic philosophy.