Ich bin mir nicht sicher, denn "consecrate" heisst ja soviel wie "weihen" und das wird von der Kirche gemacht, es ist ein festes kirchliches Ritual.
In meinem Beispiel geht es aber darum, dass eine Idee auf religiöses Niveau gehoben wird. Also kein festes Ritual...Trotzdem "consecration"?

hmm... es gibt "sanctification" und "sacralization", aber beides scheint mir (ebenso wie "consecration") nicht ganz passend für das, was Du ausdrücken möchtest. Bei allen drei Wörtern schwingt mE mit, dass die Sache um die es geht (in diesem Fall eine Idee) selbst als heilig angesehen wird, und das trifft es nicht, wenn ich richtig verstanden habe.

Möglicherweise gibt es kein (einzelnes) Wort dafür, mir fällt nicht mal auf Deutsch eines ein, für Englisch wäre muttersprachliche Hilfe vonnöten. Vielleicht kannst Du es im Englischen ähnlich umschreiben, wie Du es in Deinem Anfangsbeitrag auf deutsch getan hast, zB mit "to put [the idea] into a religious context/framework".

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sanctify

'sanctificaction' haven't heard it much, but ought to be a word, if you need a noun

maybe better?

M. E. Marty, A Nation of Behavers, Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1976, p. 14.
"the religiocification of secular humanism"
See also http://books.google.com/books?id=Q8OclZWNgE0C...

Martin E. Marty, "Context", January 1, 2002, Volume 34, Number 1.
Sometimes people from the world of science resist the religiocification of science in
the name of both science and religion. Here Jerome Groopman, M.D. writes on the
“curious coupling of science and religion”:
http://www.contextonline.org/samples/ct020101.pdf

Martin E. Marty, "We're no Holier for our Holy War", New York Times, July 22, 1981
.2,2CHICAGO - One year into its holy war, the United States, is not, and stands small chance of becoming, a holier, happier, more civil, or more moral nation. Last summer, during the election campaign, citizens began to see what in the black movement used to be called the ''religiocification'' of politics. Now, the unpromising language of the crusade or jihad corrupts the news media and disrupts society. It is time for a cease-fire.
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/times...

This is a neologism that Marty ascribes to Alfred B. Cleage. It probably expresses what you want. A Google search reveals 38 hits, and all of them seem to stem from Martin E. Marty.

Another possibility: desecularization (once you've established what you mean by "secularization")

"sacralization" is a possibility but also refers to ossification of the sacrum. I suffer from partial sacralization because the left side of my sacrum has fused to my pelvis.

"sanctification" refers to the process of making something holy (@#4 one "c" too many)

@#4 "Sanctification" is widely used in theological discussions as one of the steps of salvation: redemption (purchase and freedom from the penalty of sin), sanctification (increasing holiness and freedom from the power of sin), glorification (final state and freedom from the presence of sin)

There are, of course, other definitions and interpretations of what constitutes salvation.

Thanks for the link to webster. I tried some different words and the word fitting most to my purpose is "sacred" - as in 3. "relating to religion" but also in 2a: worthy of religious veneration.

It fits pretty well. But is there a noun to it, because I need to use it quite often in my paper and wouldn't like to write "turned sacred" or sth. like that.

More ideas?

Thanks

@ Robert:
thanks a lot, it isn't exactly what I want yet, but it goes definetely in the right direction.

ausgehend von Roberts "religiocification" habe ich gerade mal "religiofication" (ohne "ci") bei Google eingegeben, was zu meinem Erstaunen "ungefähr 168 Treffer" ergab. Ich bin zu müde um noch weiter zu recherchieren, Jeannie, wenn Du magst, kannst Du dem ja nachgehen.

And maybe Robert--US or other native speakers know the word "religiofication"?

Gute Nacht :-)

Thanks a lot to all.
I checked my Oxford Dictionary and it told me that the noun matching "sacred" is "sacredness", but this is in my opinion not the process of making sth. sacred. What about "sacrification" - Webster tells me it exists, but only in a full dictionary requiring a valid credit card... :(

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sac...

if you are referring to a person, "deification" is fitting....

and if you are referring to a thing or a symbol, "iconization"

found this word in an academic English text.

http://www.yourdictionary.com/sacralization says:

sa·cral·ize (sā′krə līz′)

transitive verb -·ized′, -·iz′·ing

to make sacred or holy

sacralize Related Forms
sa′·crali·za′·tion noun

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.

I'm pretty sure you can use it to mean the trend in which society is becoming more religious, as well as for the medical thing.

Ijust found this discussion again - and thanks a lot for the help. I did indeed use sacralization - which my professor suggested. Iconization goes in the right direction but was too weak in the particular context.

Thanks again!