Religious Diversity

2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 219-236
Author(s):  
Hamid Vahid ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Religious Experience ◽  
General Problem ◽  
Religious Pluralism ◽  
Religious Diversity ◽  
Cognitive Penetration ◽  
Cognitive Penetrability ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Outright Rejection ◽  
Do So

Philosophical responses to religious diversity range from outright rejection of divine reality to claims of religious pluralism. In this paper, I challenge those responses that take the problem of religious diversity to be merely an instance of the general problem of disagreement. To do so, I will take, as my starting point, William Alston’s treatment of the problems that religious diversity seems to pose for the rationality of theistic beliefs. My main aim is to highlight the cognitive penetrability of religious experience as a major source of such problems. I conclude by examining the consequences of cognitive penetration for the reliability of the monotheistic doxastic practice.

The study of religious diversity in the Czech lands—diversity in academic studies of religions

Human Affairs ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dušan Lužný
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Religious Beliefs ◽  
Religious Pluralism ◽  
Religious Diversity ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Czech Society ◽  
Czech Lands

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.

Quel corpus pour l’étude du dialecte niçois ?

2021 ◽  
Vol 137 (2) ◽  
pp. 344-361
Author(s):  
Philippe Del Giudice
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Written Language ◽  
Linguistic Features ◽  
Descriptive Grammar ◽  
Written Production ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Social Use ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Made In ◽  
Do So

Abstract A new project has just been launched to write a synchronic, descriptive grammar of Niçois, the Occitan dialect of Nice. In this article, I define the corpus of the research. To do so, I first review written production from the Middle Ages to the present. I then analyze the linguistic features of Niçois over time, in order to determine the precise starting point of the current language state. But because of reinforced normativism and the decreasing social use of Niçois among the educated population, written language after WWII became artificial and does not really correspond to recordings made in the field. The corpus will thus be composed of writings from the 1820’s to WWII and recordings from the last few decades.

Equal Opportunity in a Pluralistic Society

1987 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 104-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
James W. Nickel
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Religious Pluralism ◽  
Equal Opportunity ◽  
Religious Diversity ◽  
The United States ◽  
Pluralistic Society ◽  
Self Image ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The U.S

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.

Two Models of Pluralism and Tolerance

1992 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Will Kymlicka
Keyword(s):  
Political Theory ◽  
Recent Work ◽  
John Rawls ◽  
Religious Pluralism ◽  
Religious Diversity ◽  
Individual Autonomy ◽  
Individual Rights ◽  
Group Rights ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Social Pluralism

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.

scholarly journals Secularity, Religion and the Possibilities for Religious Citizenship

2013 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 150-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lyn Parker ◽  
Chang-Yau Hoon
Keyword(s):  
Citizenship Education ◽  
Religious Pluralism ◽  
Religious Diversity ◽  
First Century ◽  
Political Force ◽  
Secularization Theory ◽  
The World ◽  
Twenty First Century ◽  
Multicultural Citizenship ◽  
A Site

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.

How to reason about religious beliefs

DIALOGO ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 179-193
Author(s):  
Daniele Bertini
Keyword(s):  
Religious Beliefs ◽  
Religious Diversity ◽  
Empirical Modeling ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Epistemic View

Intractable disagreements are commonly analyzed in terms of the semantic opposition of (at least) couples of disputed beliefs (purely epistemic view, from here on PEV). While such a view seems to be a very natural starting point, my intuitions are that such an approach is misleadingly unrealistic, and that an empirical modeling towards how individuals hold beliefs in intractable opposition constitutes a strong defeater for PEV. My work addresses disagreements within the religious domain. Accordingly, I will be concerned with developing my empirical understanding of religious beliefs, and will show the consequences of such proposal on how to answer the problem of religious diversity.

Religious Pluralism and State- Centric Legal Spaces in Europe

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-54
Author(s):  
Kyriaki Topidi
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Present Article ◽  
Religious Pluralism ◽  
Legal Pluralism ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Legal Systems ◽  
European Court ◽  
Starting Point

Multiculturalism is continuously and relentlessly put to the test in the so- called West. The question as to whether religious or custom- based legal orders can or should be tolerated by liberal and democratic states is, however, by no means a new challenge. The present article uses as its starting point the case of religious legal pluralism in Greece, as exposed in recent European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) case- law, in an attempt to explore the gaps and implications in the officially limited use of sharia in Western legal systems. More specifically, the discussion is linked to the findings of the ECtHR on the occasion of the recent Molla Sali v. Greece case to highlight and question how sharia has been evolving in the European legal landscape.

Protestant Parishes in the Old World and the New: The Cases of Geneva and Boston

1979 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 290-304 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert M. Kingdon
Keyword(s):  
Social History ◽  
Religious Experience ◽  
Single Unit ◽  
Great Majority ◽  
Christian Church ◽  
Old World ◽  
Grass Roots ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Institutional Church ◽  
Historical Theology

There can be little doubt that for centuries the most important single unit of the Christian church has been the parish. It is surely the most fundamental of the structures upon which the institutional church has been built. Only by studying closely the parish and what goes on within it can we gain a real appreciation of what religion has meant and continues to mean to the average Christian at the grass roots level. It is somewhat surprising, given the general spread of interest in social history among contemporary historians, that there has not been more study of the parish. One can understand the superior appeal of historical theology to the historian who concentrates on ideas, given the range and sophistication of the systems of thought created over the centuries by theologians, but we should not forget that these systems could not even be comprehended by the great majority of Christians. One can similarly understand the superior appeal of ecclesiastical politics to the historian who concentrates on events, given the high drama in which ecclesiastical leaders have often been engaged, but we should not assume that these events necessarily even came to the attention of average Christians. But for the historian of society who is interested in the religious experience of the average man, the parish must be a starting point.

Secularism and Multiculturalism in India: Some Reflections

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rochana Bajpai
Keyword(s):  
Religious Pluralism ◽  
Religious Diversity ◽  
Cultural Identities ◽  
Hindu Nationalism ◽  
Religious Identities ◽  
Religious Minorities ◽  
Religious Traditions ◽  
Political Debates ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of

What role does secularism have in the governance of religious diversity in an age marked by the assertion of religio-cultural identities across the world? India, with its long history of religious pluralism, a state ideology of secularism, and the ascendancy of Hindu nationalism, is a key site for examining the disposition of secularism towards religious identities and diversity. Secularism and multiculturalism are often seen as opposed in political debates involving religious minorities, notably the well-known French headscarf case. Several scholars have suggested that religious traditions offer better resources for toleration than modern secularism (for India, see, for example, Madan 1998: 316; Nandy 1998:336–7). Others, more sympathetic to secularism, have also suggested that it may be deficient in the normative resources required for the accommodation of religious practices, particularly in the case of minorities (Mahajan, this volume; Modood 2010).

scholarly journals Ekklesia and Ecumenism in the Body of Christ: Unity from the Ground-Up

Religions ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 390
Author(s):  
Anastasia Wendlinder
Keyword(s):  
Faith Community ◽  
The Body ◽  
Theological Reflection ◽  
Body Of Christ ◽  
Self Identity ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
The Common ◽  
Political Spectrum ◽  
Do So

This article explores the implications for Christian unity from the perspective of the lived faith community, the ekklesia. While bilateral and multilateral dialogues have borne great fruit in bringing Christian denominations closer together, as indeed it will continue to do so, considering how the ecclesiological identity of the faith community both forms and reflects its members may be helpful in moving forward in our ecumenical efforts. This calls for a ground-up approach as opposed to a top-down approach. By “ground-up” it is meant that the starting point for theological reflection on ecumenism begins not with doctrine but with praxis, particularly as it relates to the common believer in the pew. The ecclesiological model “Body of Christ” provides a helpful vocabulary in this exploration for a number of reasons, none the least that it is scripturally-based, presumes diversity and employs concrete imagery relating to everyday life. Further, “Body of Christ” language is used by numerous Christian denominations in their statements of self-identity, regardless of where they lie on the doctrinal or political spectrum. In this article, potential benefits and challenges of this ground-up perspective will be considered, and a way forward will be proposed to promote ecumenical unity across denomination borders.

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