当代中国的“私人信仰”陷阱

The Trap of “Private Belief” in Contemporary China

中国宗教传统中公私界限的模糊混淆,导致了国家权力秩序与宗教信仰的复杂关系。中国人的"私人"信仰是一种既基于宗教却又不完全基于宗教的信仰方式,十分独特而又难以把握。中国社会中公共信仰与私人信仰的彼此分别,促使其神圣资源分配原则在公共权力、社会与私人之间形成一种三角变量关系,而公共信仰及其对权力秩序的制度依赖又在相当大的程度上成为其中的主要变量。因而,当人们只信任自己、不相信私人之外的存在的时候,就会最终导致信仰如何被信任的危机。要走出陷阱,就要促使私人信仰方式逐渐获得现代社会认可、理解的交往结构及其行动逻辑,为此,必须兼顾宗教信徒和国家公民的双重身份。这对于保障私人信仰及其权利、提高宗教工作法治化、坚持宗教发展中国化方向均有重要作用。

The confusion of the demarcation between the public and the private in Chinese religious tradition has led to the complex relationship between state power order and religious belief. The Chinese people＇s ＂private＂ belief is way of be- lieving both based on religion and partially detached from religion, which is very unique and difficult to understand. In the Chinese society,public belief and private belief are separated from each other,turning the principle of distribution of sacred resources into a triangular variable relationship between public power, society and private life;on the other hand, the public belief and its dependence on power order,make a major variable to a great extent. As a result,when people only trust them- selves, and do not believe in the existence of anything beyond their private being, it will eventually lead to the crisis of be- lief. To get out of the trap, it is necessary to enable the private way of belief to be gradually recognized by the modern society so as to acquire the communicative structure and logic of action. In this regard, we need to take into account the dual identi- ties of religious believers and citizens of the state. This is important for the protection of private belief and rights, the im- provement the rule of law in religious work, and the adherence to Chinese characteristics in religious development.