Articles tagged as "Pluralism"

Authorizing the Human Person in a Cosmopolitan Age: A Thematic Synthesis

Series:

How do religious and secular traditions approach and contest bioethical questions of human dignity and integrity? How can communities coexist peacefully in the wake of unprecedented migrations or in the ashes of intercommunal violence? We weave together the major themes of the CM Rome 2015 plenary conference in a synthetic account that brings to bear relevant scholarship and looks both back at CM’s research trajectory, as well as forward to the future research and outreach agenda of the CM initiative.

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Struggling to Mieux Vivre Ensemble: The Sobering Reality of France’s new Plurality


2015 was a devastating year for France. The horrific Paris attacks of January and November gave rise to a climate of fear, suspicion, and social distrust, and present formidable and as of yet unresolved challenges for leaders and social actors to find new and more effective strategies to mieux vivre ensemble (live better together). Read the full article »

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Los Angeles: A Microcosm for National Conversations on Religion, Public Life and Deep Diversity


The city of Los Angeles—a diverse, cosmopolitan, dynamically changing landscape—provides unique insights into how American Muslim and Catholic communities are engaging with the new plurality at different stages of their respective historical evolutions in the ever-changing American religious and legal-ethical landscape. Read the full article »

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The New Western Plurality and Citizen Co-Existence


Over the past generation the unprecedented expansion of migration to Western countries has coincided with the global revitalization of religion. These two developments have raised deep questions about received values and practices of pluralist co-existence in Western societies—questions that are likely to remain at the heart of political and social debate in Western societies for some years to come. Read the full article »

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A Conceptual Family: Secularism, Equality and Toleration


Suppose that we, taking our cue from the case of India, reverse accepted understandings that the secularisation of society is an essential pre-requisite for secularism, and assume that the two concepts — one social and the other political — may be independent of each other. The Indian experience of secularism offers valuable lessons on how plurality can be managed and accommodated within a framework of a secularism based on equality and toleration. Read the full article »

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Nahdlatul Ulama: Good Governance and Religious Tolerance in Indonesia


Nahdlatul Ulama, Indonesia’s largest Islamic organization, has been poorly understood in the West. While most Western political commentators and policy makers absorb an almost daily dose of news or intelligence regarding Islamist extremist organizations or terrorist groups in the predominantly Muslim countries of the Middle East and Southeast Asia, there is far less information and understanding of Muslim peacemakers, moderate-progressive groups, and organizations that advocate for tolerance and pluralism. Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) is one of the world’s foremost Muslim associations devoted to the spread of the Islamic message of justice, peace, and tolerance. Read the full article »

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Contending Modernities in East London


In its religious intensity and diversity, east London is an exciting testing-ground for “Contending Modernities.” It is an area with a long history of migration, and the religious and cultural diversity it brings, raising the question: How do migrant communities with diverse religious and cultural identities shape a common life? Catholic and Muslim migrants in particular have historically both been treated with some suspicion in the UK. The experience of Catholic and Muslim engagement in broad-based community organizing runs counter to such suspicions. Community organizing harnesses precisely the “problematic” quality of these faiths — above all their loyalty to a truth that transcends the nation-state, and a “critical distance” from the status quo — as a means of working for justice.

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