ABSTRACT
The religionists argue that the neglect of religion is also the result of the influence of Enlightenment thinking because it ensured that faith and reason were separated. Subsequently, religion was reduced to an irrational form of knowledge consisting of moral rules, and the field of reason was narrowed to that which is knowable (naturally) scientifically. Another reason for the neglect of religion is the influence of modernization and secularization theory. As a result, it has long been assumed within IR that religion would disappear naturally. In addition to that IR reduces religion to an irrational, individual, and institutional phenomenon. As a consequence, IR neglects the rational, collective, and ideational side of religion and holds a flawed view of the actual role of religion, according to the religionists. On a deeper level, IR is committed to ontological and epistemological assumptions which lead to a strive for explanatory power in theorizing a rationality independent of context, materialism, and a secularization of concepts. These assumptions and developments stand in the way of an incorporation of religion in theorizing.
