What purpose does religion serve in our contemporary society? Is it merely an anachronism? Or a sort of superstition to be practiced in private but not discussed in public? But what would happen to democracy if religion were to vanish completely? These are difficult questions that German sociologist Hartmut Rosa answers in his essay "Why Democracy Needs Religion" (il Mulino, 2025, pp. 136, also available as an e-book). The starting point of Rosa's reflection, as Mauro Magatti emphasizes in the book's beautiful introduction, is the idea that our time is characterized by an acceleration in technology (with ever-faster innovations), in society, driven by the ongoing crisis of roles and institutions , and in existence, due to an often unsustainable pace of life. This acceleration creates ever-increasing opportunities for individuals to access information, tools, and ideas, and, at the same time, also produces a sense of alienation and frustration. The world appears closed, hostile, and cold; things and people become objects to be consumed, controlled, and optimized.
What's needed, then, is a different experience, which Rosa calls resonance. For the German sociologist, resonance occurs when an individual feels connected to a person, but also to a work of art, a landscape, a spiritual or religious experience, and responds with profound engagement. This creates an experience of reciprocity in which the individual builds a living, vibrant relationship based on dialogue. Resonance is therefore the opposite of individualism and alienation. Alienation is a silent, lifeless relationship, whereas resonance establishes a relationship in which the world responds, makes itself present, and challenges us. Resonance, therefore, for the author of the book, is what gives meaning to life and is a type of experience that all great cultures, including religions, have sought to cultivate and preserve.
The problem today is that authentic experiences of resonance cannot be achieved on command: they require openness, a predisposition to the unexpected, and listening. They require time and silence. Resonance therefore clashes with the spirit of our times, dominated by haste, anxiety for control, and planning. Yet people's deepest need is to connect, to feel involved and challenged by what they experience, not to accumulate sensations and experiences.
From this perspective, religion is not simply a system of beliefs, but a relational practice. It is one of the places where the expectation of resonance is cultivated, because prayers, myths, rituals, and sacred stories serve not only to convey content, but also to allow individuals to prepare themselves for a state of openness to mystery and to others. In short, in a world that strives to make everything readily available and attainable, religion champions the effort and expectation of conquest, the foundation for building true relationships and thus connecting with everything around us.
For Rosa, however, resonance isn't just about the individual; it's not just a private matter. For deep and satisfying relationships to occur, a society is needed that provides fertile ground for these kinds of experiences. A school that teaches competition doesn't help build such a society, and neither does alienating work that leaves no room for listening. Even overbuilt, chaotic, noisy cities don't contribute to resonance. We need a new society, and religions, for Rosa, can help change things. They can truly inspire new models of coexistence, new forms of economics, new institutions, the latter based on democracy. Because democracy is a device that must allow people to feel heard and to listen, otherwise it is merely a simulacrum of democracy. As Rosa writes: "Religion has the power (a reservoir of ideas and an arsenal of songs, gestures, spaces, traditions, and ritual spaces) to show what it means to be called, to be transformed, to live in a state of resonance. Without this sense, democracy cannot function. If society loses this meaning, if it forgets this possible form of relationship, then it is truly finished. And so the answer to the question of whether today's society still needs religion can only be a resounding yes!