ABSTRACT
We propose in this chapter that the relationship between religion and nationalism in Taiwan has been mediated by two developments that pull in different directions. The first is state formation, which has erected barriers between religion and national identity. The second is a search for culturally authentic expressions of modernity, which has shaped both religion and nationalism in Taiwan, infusing them with a shared sensibility. The emergence of religious movements sharing important affinities with nationalism has reinforced the cultural sources of nationalist politics, but also motivated more direct forms of engagement with this politics. This is because the forms of religion that display this modernist sensibility tend to be this-worldly in their focus, and politically engaged.
