宗教信仰的集體性與個體性一種「宗教的生活言行」觀點的初步探討

The Collectivity and Individuality of Religious Belief A Preliminary Treatment about the Perspective of 'Religious Practice'

對於台灣宗教信仰的討論，我們比較常看到的分析，是著眼於宗教信仰本身的發展歷程、各類型宗教信仰性質的定位、宗教信仰的發展與社會變遷的關聯性等較為「鉅視」或「結構性」觀點的議題。本文發現，對於宗教信仰與日常生活之間關聯的理解，不少研究主要在於彰顯「周期性」與「集體性」宗教活動與行為表現的一面。同時，在試圖釐清宗教信仰與社會經濟條件之間的「結構性關聯」的認識角度之下，「分類」、「再分類」、「跳脫分類」等模型化或類型學式的建構，似乎是呈顯台灣宗教信仰與相關特質的一個重要特徵。而本文藉由西方基督宗教研究的若干理論取向與經驗成果，提出一種「宗教的生活言行」的認知觀點，以彰顯宗教信仰對一般信眾日常生活行為的指引作用乃至約制力量，並認為宗教信仰表現在日常生活行動的「個體性」與「持續性」意義的呈現，同時是彰顯宗教信仰之「社會存在」意義的重要面向。

The discussions about the relationships between religions and societies of Taiwan, constructing 'macro connection' or 'structural relevance' perspectives were the analytic approach frequently. Besides, understanding the 'structural relationships' between religious belief and social life, most of researches revealed the dimensions of 'periodic' and 'collective' religious activities. Additionally, typological construction was a significant way of thinking about Taiwan' s religious belief. From these understanding contexts, 'to categorize', 're-categorize' or 'out of categorize' became an obvious characteristics. However, from the perspective of 'religious practice' in this paper, demonstrating the effects of 'conduct of life' or 'regulating behavior' for the laymen in their activities of everyday life, and manifesting the meanings of 'individual' and 'persistent' religious practice ought to be a considerable dimension for the representations of the social meanings of religion.