‘Counteracting Evil with United Forces’: On Citizenship in a Religious Community with Special Attention to Church Rituals

In Book III of Religion Within the Boundaries of Mere Reason, Kant argues that simply being in the company of other human beings exposes one to corrupting factors that can tempt one to develop various vices. This situation, he argues, calls upon human beings to form an ‘ethical community’ conceived as a ‘visible church’ governed by ethical laws. This chapter discusses Kant’s conception of a visible church with particular focus on various church rituals and their role in promoting virtue among its members. Kant mentions the practices of prayer, churchgoing, baptism, and communion. In Part IV of Religion, Kant criticizes such practices when thought of as ways of gaining the grace of God without expending effort toward becoming as virtuous as possible. However, he does make brief remarks about the proper ‘spirit’ of these rituals suggesting how they can figure positively in moral improvement. This chapter develops these suggestions, explaining for each ritual its nature and aims, symbolic value, and how they can figure instrumentally in one’s moral improvement. The chapter also explains how participation in such rituals can come to have non-instrumental value by what they express and how they figure in the non-instrumental value of being in solidarity with others.