ABSTRACT
Japan and Europe are commonly presented as two of the most secularised parts of the world. However, they are also Western capitalist democracies that have been impacted by terrorism claiming a religious or religious-like inspiration. The way European countries are coping with Muslim radicalism and Japan with Aum Shinrikyō offer a comparative touchstone of how they regulate spiritual matters. These examples pave the way for a discussion on global trends of securitisation and culturalisation of religion declined in various cultural and historical contexts. The findings challenge self-claimed exceptionalisms of national secularisms and show how values can be instrumentalised to draw shifting boundaries between politics, religion and culture.
