Spiegel Special 2006-9 - The Power Of Faith.pdf

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E D I TO R’ S N OT E
anish newspaper cartoons of the
Muslim prophet Mohammed
spark outrage in the Islamic
world. Christian fundamentalists
in the United States banish Darwin’s theory of
evolution from the classroom. Cologne is be-
sieged by worshipers wanting to pray with
Pope Benedict XVI on World Youth Day. Just
a few years ago, not many would have dared
to predict this religious revival. The wide-
spread belief was that faith would be shunted
to the sidelines, steamrollered by science in
an increasingly rational world.
Smoltczyk, Benedict XVI
In this issue, SPIEGEL journalists and leading
thinkers explore the growing impact of the great religions on culture, politics and society. Alexan-
der Smoltczyk – SPIEGEL’s man in Rome – accompanied Pope Benedict XVI on three trips, and de-
scribes how even sophisticated intellectuals have fallen under the spell of a cleric once vilified as an
ultra-conservative (page 24).
During a visit to the Saddleback Church south of Los Angeles, SPIEGEL special writer Susanne
Weingarten was initiated into the faith experience at the new U.S. megachurches. When speaking
with ministers and worshipers, Weingarten discovered how many religious evangelicals are chang-
ing course. “President Bush,” she concludes, “has a few surprises in store” (page 42).
The relationship between Islam and Christianity has been aggravated by conflict over the past few
years. In a special contribution to this issue, Berlin-based expert Gudrun Krämer explores the bound-
aries of tolerance in the Islamic world
(page 68). SPIEGEL’s Cordula Meyer and
Gunther Latsch witnessed the growing gulf
when they moderated a debate between re-
ligious expert Ursula Spuler-Stegemann and
Ali Kizilkaya, the head of the Islamic Coun-
cil of Germany. “They couldn’t even agree
on a definition for a straightforward con-
cept like integration,” Meyer noted after-
ward (page 81).
More than any other religion, Buddhism
holds a special appeal for stress-weary
Westerners. SPIEGEL writer Rüdiger Falk-
sohn visited Buddhist monasteries in Thai-
Falksohn, Buddhist monk Sudhammo
land. “Some are geared specifically toward
international guests, and English is the lingua franca,” Falksohn says. His tour guide at Wat
Boonyawad Monastery just south of Bangkok was Sudhammo, a Swabian who severed ties with his
family long ago. But the expatriate welcomed the journalist from Germany, and was “happy at the
chance to talk with someone from back home” (page 94).
And what about those who reject religion altogether? SPIEGEL writer Johannes Saltzwedel describes
enlightened skeptics’ quest for meaning, while Leipzig philosophy professor Christoph Türcke’s
essay discusses the ambiguity and abuses of many supposedly “absolute” values (page 128).
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IN THIS ISSUE
THE RENAISSANCE OF RELIGION
Millions congregate regularly at
St. Peter’s Square in Rome to receive the pope’s blessing. In the United States,
the faithful are flocking to megachurches. Are church rituals degenerating
into media events, or are we truly witnessing a religious revival?
Page 6
THE POWER OF THE PIOUS
Most Israelis are secular. But the country’s
founding fathers granted considerable power to religious Jews – seen
praying here at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. The lack of separation
between the state and religion has sparked major social conflicts.
Page 86
FA I T H A N D VA L U E S
The impact of religion on our world . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Violence in the name of God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
An interview with the Protestant theologian
Friedrich Wilhelm Graf on the need for religion
and the roots of fundamentalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Orthodox Christians in Ethiopia – a world apart . . . . . . . . 54
The Catholic Church: custodian of all things Polish . . . . . . 56
Marketing the Black Madonna . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
DOSSIER: WORLD RELIGIONS
CHRISTIANITY
Benedict XVI – a pope for intellectuals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
The boom in church schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
How monasteries are getting in shape for
the new millennium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Who wants to be a priest these days? A visit to
St. Georgen Seminary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
The recipe for success at American megachurches . . . . . . . 42
The rise of the Pentecostals in Latin America . . . . . . . . . . . 48
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Christianity, religion in Germany, Judaism,
Islam, and Eastern faiths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
ISLAM
Oriental expert Gudrun Krämer discusses the differences
between Islam and the West . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Koran schools – hotbeds of terrorism? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
The youth work undertaken by Islamic associations
is cementing divisions within German society . . . . . . . . . . . 77
V.L.N.R.: ANSA/DPA; LANDOV/INTERTOPICS; A. KATIB/GETTY IMAGES; A. CAVALLI/TIPS
Jesus in the morning, voodoo in the evening – Islam,
Christianity and the natural religions in Africa . . . . . . . . . . 52
ISLAM, THE PERCEIVED ENEMY
The Five Pillars of Islam are devotion
to Allah, praying five times a day, giving alms, fasting during Ramadan, and
making the pilgrimage to Mecca. The Western image of this faith is
dominated by Islamic fundamentalists whose goal is to banish infidels.
Page 68
THE GENTLE PATH TO THE SELF
Crusades and jihad are foreign to Buddhism,
the world’s fourth-largest religion with some 450 million devotees. Focusing on the
self, their beliefs slot nicely into the contemporary mindset. Buddhism is attracting
more and more affluent liberals who are seeking new meaning in their lives.
Page 94
Taking sides: a debate between the religious scholar
Ursula Spuler-Stegemann and Ali Kizilkaya,
chairman of the Islamic Council of Germany . . . . . . . . . . . 81
JUDAISM
Religion and secularism in Israel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
An interview with Salomon Korn, vice president
of Germany’s Central Council of Jews,
on what it means to be Jewish today . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
The colorful world of Hinduism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
The influence of Taoism in communist China . . . . . . . . . . 110
The Chinese Communist Party’s unease about Falun Gong,
the country’s burgeoning meditation movement . . . . . . . . 114
“The way of the gods” – Shinto in Japan . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
AT H E I S T S & A G N O S T I C S
What do people believe in, if not in God? . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Evolutionary biologists on a secular crusade
against creationists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Values are idols – an essay by the philosopher
Christoph Türcke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Editor’s Note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Credits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
COVER:
ILLUSTRATION BY BRALDT BRALDS FOR SPIEGEL SPECIAL
EASTERN RELIGIONS
The irresistible appeal of Buddhist ideas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
An interview with the meditation instructor
Charlie Pils about his path to Buddhism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Religion in Hollywood – a portrait of
the Buddhist Richard Gere . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
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Religion, Born Again

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