Religious Courts and Rights in Plural Societies: Interlegal Gaps and the Need for Complex Concurrency

The administration or recognition of religious courts is a form of religious accommodation present in many constitutional states today commonly analysed in legal pluralism terms. This article contributes to the further analysis of the relationship between legal pluralism and rights in religiously diverse societies by examining the status of state religious courts and their interaction with state non-religious (secular) courts. In particular, I examine what Cover calls “jurisdictional redundancies” between the courts and conceptualize the allocation of power between religious and non-religious courts as a potentially productive site of interlegality. In doing so, I support concurrent jurisdictional allocations, arguing that exclusive jurisdiction could result in what I call an interlegal gap, whereby instead of inter-penetration of norms and production of reconciliatory principles, there is a justice gap whereby litigants may find themselves unable to obtain appropriate legal recourse including when neither court is willing to assume jurisdiction over the matter. This requires us to see the relationship between religious courts and non-religious courts through the more mundane but more practical lens of jurisdictional overlaps and competition, rather than through the more abstract framing of normative or even civilizational clashes. Accordingly, I argue that concurrent jurisdiction and interlegality have greater potential to strike a balance between individual and group rights and could be more protective of religious diversity. In other words, I argue for a closer, rather than a more separate, relationship between religious and non-religious courts, while denying that a hierarchical relationship where religious courts are subordinated to non-religious courts is the only way to protect rights.

Penginjilan Terhadap Masyarakat Plural Berdasarkan Surat Efesus

This article discusses evangelism to plural societies based on the epistle of ephesians. Evangelism is god’s program, design and work that bring for himself, people to fellowship, worship / praise and serve him in wholeness and harmony. Evangelism is established by god from eternity, because all things are designed by god from eternity in his omniscience and power in evangelism (eph. 1: 4-14). God wants his people to have fellowship with him, become his worshipers and serve him, the true god. The challenge in evangelism is that every religion is different, all religions have objects that are worshiped, therefore it will not be possible to be completely equated between one religion and another. Plural society equates christian faith with other beliefs by looking for loopholes to align christianity with other religions. The duty of the believer is to preach the gospel so that unbelievers hear and believe in the lord jesus and are saved, not compromising the gospel or juxtaposing christian faith with other beliefs. Keywords: Evangelism; Plural Society; Ephesians Letter AbstrakArtikel ini membahasa mengenai penginjilan terhadap masyarakat plural berdasarkan surat Efesus. Penginjilan merupakan program, rancangan dan karya Allah yang membawa bagi diriNya sendiri suatu umat untuk bersekutu, menyembah/memuji dan melayani Dia dalam keutuhan dan keserasian. Penginjilan ditetapkan Allah sejak kekekalan, sebab segala sesuatu dirancang Allah dari kekal dalam kemahatahuanNya dan kuasaNya didalam penginjilan (Ef. 1:4-14). Allah menghendaki agar umatNya bersekutu dengan Dia, menjadi penyembahNya dan melayani Dia, Allah yang benar. Tantangan dalam penginjilan adalah setiap agama berbeda, semua agama memiliki objek yang disembah, oleh sebab itu tidak akan mungkin dapat disamakan secara keseluruhannya antara agama satu dengan yang lain. Masyarakat plural, menyamakan iman Kristen dengan kepercayaan lain dengan mencari celah untuk dapat menjajarkan kekristenan dengan keagamaan lain. Tugas dari orang percaya ialah memberitakan Injil agar orang-orang yang belum percaya mendengar dan menjadi percaya kepada Tuhan Yesus serta diselamatkan, bukan mengkompromikan Injil atau menjajarkan iman Kristen dengan kepercayaan lain. Kata Kunci: Penginjilan; Masyarakat Plural; Surat Efesus

KEPEMIMPINAN TRADISIONAL JAWA-ISLAM DALAM MASYARAKAT JAWA

In Indonesia, especially in Central Java, there are plural societies which need the presence of a leader who fits them best. Therefore, a figure who has the characteristics of leadership which fits the interest of his supporters is needed. The characteristics of leadership which are offered here are the traditional and Islamic model, including the model of “etika kedzaifan”. A figure, tipology, and characteristics which are embedded in the mind of a leader are what the society need.

El islam en el espacio público de los barrios multiculturales del sur de Europa: el caso de Lavapiés, Madrid

Resumen: En las actuales sociedades plurales no confesionales, los grupos religiosos entienden el acceso al espacio público como un derecho a la ciudad. Este derecho legitima su condición de actores sociales, que traducen como visibilización en el espacio público y participación en la vida política del municipio, a través de diversas nociones vinculadas a la modernidad y la transparencia. Para explorar esta hipótesis, este artículo examina el caso de los musulmanes bangladeshíes del multicultural barrio madrileño de Lavapiés, el cual presenta semejanzas con otros barrios multiculturales de ciudades del sur de Europa como Lisboa o Roma: un barrio afectado por un acelerado proceso de gentrificación y turistificación. Se analizan las circunstancias en las que esta comunidad intenta acceder al espacio público, con el fin de lograr una mayor legitimación y reconocimiento, teniendo en cuenta las diferentes prácticas y discursos que se despliegan en determinados eventos y festividades.Abstract: In current nondenominational plural societies, religious groups understand access to public space as a right to the city. This right legitimizes their status as social actors, who are entitled to have a public life and to be recognized, through various notions linked to modernity and transparency. To explore this hypothesis, this article examines the case of Bangladeshi Muslims in Madrid’s multicultural neighborhood of Lavapiés, which has similarities with other multicultural neighborhoods in southern European cities, which has similarities with other multicultural neighbourhoods in southern European cities, such as Lisbon or Rome: a barrio affected by an accelerated gentrification and touristification process. It analyzes the circumstances through which this community attempts to access public space, in order to achieve further legitimization and recognition, by bringing into account the different practices and discourses displayed in specific events and festivities.

Becoming a FaciliActor: Playing at fiction on the borderlines of culture

This article interrogates the idea of the drama educator as a FaciliActor within the sociocultural and political context of Singapore, drawing on Jacques Ranciere’s (2015) notions of fiction and dissensus to examine how the FaciliActor can expand the potential of play-based embodied learning. The term FaciliActor, coined to combine facilitator and actor capacities, and thereby emphasize the acting skills involved in facilitating a dynamic drama process, points to imaginative options that drama educators negotiate when planning and executing their roles. In particular, it highlights an educator’s ability to play with experimental options and trust the ingenuity of imagination that prods a review of what is. This includes having theatrical presence, which commands attention and invites response. Given the escalating tensions of cultural difference in plural societies, the growing need for dialogic pedagogies that develop twenty-first century competencies such as critical thinking, empathy and self-awareness points to the FaciliActor as well placed to do this through play-based and creative frameworks that allow multiple perspectives. I consider how the FaciliActor can expand dialogic options for participants when creating and facilitating a drama process, and suggest that it is useful to engage with an ‘actor’s dramaturgy’ (Barba 2010) to gain critical skills when performing.