Public Policy and Religious Diversity

2016 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 186-199 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emerson Giumbelli

Recently in Brazil, diversity has become a guiding principle in formulating public policy, and “interreligious spaces” have been established in public hospitals for the use of religious groups of various kinds. An examination of the use of these spaces in two major public hospitals in Porto Alegre makes it clear that religious diversity has fundamental political dimensions involving the representation and recognition of social groups and that a commitment to religious pluralism does not rule out other hegemonies. Recentemente no Brasil, a diversidade tornou-se um princípio norteador para a formulação de políticas públicas. Consequentemente, “espaços interreligiosos” veem sendo estabelecidos em hospitais públicos para serem utilizados por diversos grupos religiosos. Uma análise dessa utilização, em dois importantes hospitais na cidade de Porto Alegre, demonstra com clareza que a diversidade religiosa apresenta dimensões políticas fundamentais que abarcam a representação e o reconhecimento de grupos sociais. Ademais, atesta que o comprometimento com o pluralismo religioso não exclui outras hegemonias.

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 139-153
Author(s):  
Asyhabuddin Asyhabuddin

This paper seeks to examine the tradition of chain prayer and religious social inclusion in Kepung Village, Kediri Regency. The idea of this paper came from the growing religious conflict. The inhabitants of Kepung village in Kediri, East Java district, have a unique method to build harmonious relations between religions amid the potential conflicts of religious diversity they have. The data were obtained by interviewing people in Kepung Village, Kediri Regency. That method is a tradition of chain prayer which is carried out as a series of village cleaning traditions every month of Sura in the Javanese calendar. This tradition fosters social religious inclusion because this tradition builds inclusive religious attitudes, inclusive religious policies, and guarantees access and active participation of religious social groups. In addition, this tradition also narrows ethnic distance because it can provide the expectations of minority religious groups, thus generating trust between religious groups.   Tulisan ini berusaha untuk mengkaji tentang tradisi doa berantai dan inklusi sosial keagamaan di Desa Kepung Kabupaten Kediri. Ide tulisan ini berasal dari semakin berkembangnya konflik keagamaan, warga desa Kepung di kabupaten Kediri Jawa Timur memiliki cara unik untuk membangun keharmonisan hubungan antar agama di tengah potensi konflik keragaman agama yang mereka miliki. Data-data diperoleh dengan wawancara kepada orang-orang di Desa Kepung Kabupaten Kediri. Cara itu adalah tradisi doa berantai yang dilakukan sebagai rangkaian dari tradisi bersih desa setiap bulan Sura dalam penanggalan Jawa. Tradisi ini memupuk inklusi sosial keagamaan karena tradisi ini membangun sikap keagamaan inklusif, kebijakan keagamaan inklusif dan menjamin akses dan partisipasi aktif kelompok minoritas keagamaan. Selain itu, tradisi ini juga mempersempit ethnic distance karena mampu memberikan ekspektasi kelompok keagamaan minoritas, sehingga memunculkan rasa percaya (trust) antar kelompok keagamaan yang ada.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nour Mohsen

The Iraqi and Lebanese political systems stemmed from each country’s distinctive mosaic of sub-national identities but have been deemed corrupt and incompetent, prompting ongoing protests and calls for unity in both contexts. However, this dissatisfaction is unsurprising given the challenging task of translating the ethnic, linguistic, and religious diversity that characterizes each population into an overarching national identity. The Lebanese and Iraqi political systems have attempted to manage ethnic and religious pluralism through confessionalism, or a “consociational government which distributes political and institutional power proportionally among religious sub-communities.” This paper argues that Lebanon and Iraq are two specific examples of confessionalism, demonstrating its failure to manage ethnic and religious pluralism, which seems to inevitably beget sectarianism—a discriminatory structure in which each group advances its privileges at the expense of others. Nevertheless, confessional systems are challenging to transform, namely because they institutionalize different ethnic or religious groups’ identities instead of promoting a unified, national identity. 


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 141-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Holley

Abstract: Much of the appeal of religious pluralism for those who take religious truth claims seriously arises from the sense that confessionalist alternatives to pluralism that affirm the truth of one particular religion are unacceptable. Pluralists try to foster this sense by portraying confessionalist views as implausible for one who is fully informed about the facts of religious diversity. However, when pluralists attempt to rule out confessionalism, they tend to characterize it in ways that overlook the possibility of what I call humble confessionalism. When humble forms of confessionalism are considered, representations of pluralism as the only viable option become less persuasive.


Philosophy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victoria S. Harrison

Within the philosophy of religion, theories of religious pluralism are models that provide a philosophical account of religious diversity. They are not descriptive theories of religion, and the terms “religious pluralism” and “religious diversity” are not equivalent in the context of philosophical discussion. Theories of religious pluralism have been present within the philosophy of religion since the 1700s, when G. W. F. Hegel and F. D. E. Schleiermacher established the modern discipline on the understanding that the philosophical study of religion embraced all religions. Religious pluralism came to prominence within the philosophy of religion in the 1980s, with the work of the British philosopher John Hick (b. 1922–d. 2012) being seminal. During the 1990s, philosophical work on religious pluralism and related topics was dominated by the discussion among Hick, his supporters, and his critics. Hick’s theory of religious pluralism is still the most comprehensive and widely discussed in Anglo-American philosophy of religion. In his development of the theory, Hick engaged with and was often influential on work in other areas of philosophy, especially metaphysics, epistemology, and the philosophy of language. This intersection of philosophical concerns continues to make the investigation of religious pluralism a focal point within the philosophy of religion. This article provides references to works that explain the wider methodological context of theories of religious pluralism. It then provides a section covering Hick’s major works on religious pluralism, as well as the most significant responses to his theory. Since the late 20th century, and in the light of the philosophical difficulties attending Hick’s theory, alternative theories of religious pluralism have been proposed. This article provides references to some of the most interesting proposals. The article then hones in on the interface between theories of religious pluralism and epistemology, providing references under these subsections: Religious Diversity and Epistemic Disagreement, Warranted Christian Exclusivism, and Religious Diversity and Religious Experience. Recognizing that some philosophers interested in religious diversity focus on its social, ethical, and political dimensions, this article provides references to the most significant philosophical works related to such practical concerns, insofar as they have a bearing on the discussion of theories of religious pluralism. A section is also provided on Islam and Religious Pluralism, since Muslim philosophers of religion have been especially active in this area. A final section provides references to some key works engaging with religious pluralism from the perspectives of theology and religious studies.


Human Affairs ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dušan Lužný

AbstractThis article attempts to summarize some of the experiences and methodological insights gained from research on non-traditional religious groups that the author has conducted over the last twenty years, primarily in Czech society. The starting point for these studies is respect for the principle that it is not possible to approach the study of religious pluralism and diversity from a single predetermined conceptual framework-religious diversity requires diverse approaches. However, within the diversity approach there exist some common principles such as respect for the religious beliefs of respondents and the elimination of personal stereotypes and ethnocentrism.


EMPIRISMA ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Limas Dodi

According to Abdulaziz Sachedina, the main argument of religious pluralism in the Qur’an based on the relationship between private belief (personal) and public projection of Islam in society. By regarding to private faith, the Qur’an being noninterventionist (for example, all forms of human authority should not be disturb the inner beliefs of individuals). While the public projection of faith, the Qur’an attitude based on the principle of coexistence. There is the willingness of the dominant race provide the freedom for people of other faiths with their own rules. Rules could shape how to run their affairs and to live side by side with the Muslims. Thus, based on the principle that the people of Indonesia are Muslim majority, it should be a mirror of a societie’s recognizion, respects and execution of religious pluralism. Abdul Aziz Sachedina called for Muslims to rediscover the moral concerns of public Islam in peace. The call for peace seemed to indicate that the existence of increasingly weakened in the religious sense of the Muslims and hence need to be reaffi rmed. Sachedina also like to emphasize that the position of peace in Islam is parallel with a variety of other doctrines, such as: prayer, fasting, pilgrimage and so on. Sachedina also tried to show the argument that the common view among religious groups is only one religion and traditions of other false and worthless. “Antipluralist” argument comes amid the reality of human religious differences. Keywords: Theology, Pluralism, Abdulaziz Sachedina


2015 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rawia Hayik

Conflicts between different religious groups occasionally arise in my Christian and Muslim Israeli-Arab EFL students’ school and area. In an attempt to increase students’ knowledge of and respect for other faiths in the region, I conducted practitioner inquiry research in my religiously diverse Middle-Eastern classroom. Grounded in critical literacy, I used a book set of religion-based literature alongside critical literacy engagements to effect some change in students’ tolerance towards other faiths. This article describes my journey of exploring students’ reader responses to religion-based texts and issues.


1987 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 104-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
James W. Nickel

The United States has never been culturally or religiously homogeneous, but its diversity has greatly increased over the last century. Although the U.S. was first a multicultural nation through conquest and enslavement, its present diversity is due equally to immigration. In this paper I try to explain the difference it makes for one area of thought and policy – equal opportunity – if we incorporate cultural and religious pluralism into our national self-image. Formulating and implementing a policy of equal opportunity is more difficult in diverse, pluralistic countries than it is in homogeneous ones. My focus is cultural and religious diversity in the United States, but my conclusions will apply to many other countries – including ones whose pluralism is found more in religion than in culture.


1992 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Will Kymlicka

AbstractIn his most recent work, John Rawls argues that political theory must recognize and accomodate the ‘fact of pluralism’, including the fact of religious diversity. He believes that the liberal commitment to individual rights provides the only feasible model for accomodating religious pluralism. In the paper, I discuss a second form of tolerance, based on group rights rather than individual rights. Drawing on historical examples, I argue that this is is also a feasible model for accomodating religious pluralism. While both models ensure tolerance between groups, only the former tolerates individual dissent within groups. To defend the individual rights model, therefore, liberals must appeal not only to the fact of social pluralism, but also to the value of individual autonomy. This may require abandoning Rawls’s belief that liberalism can and should be defended on purely ‘political’, rather than ‘comprehensive’ grounds.


2013 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 150-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lyn Parker ◽  
Chang-Yau Hoon

Abstract Scholarly predictions of the secularization of the world have proven premature. We see a heterogeneous world in which religion remains a significant and vital social and political force. This paper reflects critically upon secularization theory in order to see how scholars can productively respond to the, at least partly, religious condition of the world at the beginning of the twenty first century. We note that conventional multiculturalism theory and policy neglects religion, and argue the need for a reconceptualization of understanding of religion and secularity, particularly in a context of multicultural citizenship — such as in Australia and Indonesia. We consider the possibilities for religious pluralism in citizenship and for “religious citizenship”. Finally, we propose that religious citizenship education might be a site for fostering a tolerant and enquiring attitude towards religious diversity.


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