台灣民主化的宗教基礎（II）

Abstract

在台灣的政治中，宗教重要嗎？本研究認為這問題並沒有簡單的是或否答案。正反雙方都可以從本研究找到統計資料，支持其說法。在很多例證中，宗教信仰、虔誠度、以及公民 -宗教團體類型，對於政治容忍、傳統政治價值、政治參與、以及政黨傾向，有顯著的影響。但是這些影響在控制年齡、性別、收入、教育、和婚姻之後，在不同的回歸模型中並不一致。然而，許多分析結果顯示，公民 -宗教團體類型是影響政治價值和行為的一個重要指標。這支持我們的社會資本論論點，也就是參加宗教團體，尤其是非傳統的宗教，可以讓信徒學習到自由主義的政治價值，並且可以累積社會資本以參與民主過程。雖然宗教領袖可能會教導信徒一些傳統的政治價值，或者傾向支持特定的政黨，但是他們不必然掌控虔誠信徒的政治思維或行為。畢竟，台灣信徒的宗教行為是非常個人化、去制度化、以及非神學化。

Does religion matter in Taiwanese politics? This research rejects a simple answer to it. Both the pros and cons can find statistical support from this paper. In many cases, beliefs, religious commitment, and civic-religious group types have significant impacts on Political Tolerance, Traditional Political Values, Political Participation, and Party Preference. But these impacts are not consistent across different regression models, after controlling for age, sex, income, education, and marriage. However, in most cases, we find civic-religious group type a powerful religious factor affecting political values and behaviors. This supports our social capital thesis that participation in religious groups (particularly, non-traditional religions) enables the believers to learn liberal political values and accumulate their social capital for democratic participation. Although religious leaders might indoctrinate their believers with traditional political values or favor certain political parties, they do not necessarily dictate the political thinking or behavior of the activist believers. After all, the religious behaviors of most Taiwanese believers are very personal, de-institutional, and non-theological.