The Challenge of Pluralism

The Challenge of Pluralism PDF Author: J. Christopher Soper
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1442250445
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 286

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Book Description
In a thoroughly revised and expanded edition that now includes France, this essential text offers a rigorous, systematic comparison of church-state relations in six Western nations: the United States, France, England, Germany, the Netherlands, and Australia. As successful and stable political democracies, these countries share a commitment to protecting the religious rights of their citizens. The book demonstrates, however, that each has taken substantially different approaches to resolving basic church-state questions. The authors examine both the historical roots of those differences and more recent conflicts over Islam and other religious minorities, explain how contemporary church-state issues are addressed, and provide a framework for assessing the success of each of the six states in protecting the religious rights of its citizens using a framework based on the ideal of governmental neutrality and evenhandedness toward people of all faiths and of none. Responding to the general confusion about the relationship between church and state in the West, this book offers a much-needed comparative analysis of a topic that is increasingly a source of political conflict. The authors argue that the US conception of church-state separation, with its emphasis on avoiding government establishment of religion, is unique among political democracies and discriminates against religious groups by denying religious organizations access to government services provided to other organizations. The authors persuasively conclude that the United States can learn a great deal from other Western nations in promoting religious neutrality and the free exercise of religion.

The Challenge of Pluralism

The Challenge of Pluralism PDF Author: J. Christopher Soper
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1442250445
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 286

Get Book Here

Book Description
In a thoroughly revised and expanded edition that now includes France, this essential text offers a rigorous, systematic comparison of church-state relations in six Western nations: the United States, France, England, Germany, the Netherlands, and Australia. As successful and stable political democracies, these countries share a commitment to protecting the religious rights of their citizens. The book demonstrates, however, that each has taken substantially different approaches to resolving basic church-state questions. The authors examine both the historical roots of those differences and more recent conflicts over Islam and other religious minorities, explain how contemporary church-state issues are addressed, and provide a framework for assessing the success of each of the six states in protecting the religious rights of its citizens using a framework based on the ideal of governmental neutrality and evenhandedness toward people of all faiths and of none. Responding to the general confusion about the relationship between church and state in the West, this book offers a much-needed comparative analysis of a topic that is increasingly a source of political conflict. The authors argue that the US conception of church-state separation, with its emphasis on avoiding government establishment of religion, is unique among political democracies and discriminates against religious groups by denying religious organizations access to government services provided to other organizations. The authors persuasively conclude that the United States can learn a great deal from other Western nations in promoting religious neutrality and the free exercise of religion.

Religious Education and the Challenge of Pluralism

Religious Education and the Challenge of Pluralism PDF Author: Adam B. Seligman
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0199359482
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 257

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Book Description
"This book offers a comparative analysis of religious education and state policies towards religious education in seven different countries and in the European Union as a whole. Most of the cases studied have not been presented previously in the English speaking world. The comparative contextualization of the different countries studied here, Muslim majority, Orthodox Christian, Jewish and secular (or laic) is also new. The challenge addressed by the book's different studies, is quite simply if religious education can itself be a vehicle for civic enculturation and the creation of ties of belonging and meaningful solidarity across different ethnic and religious communities in the contemporary world. In many of the countries studied, the state and the program of state-making was associated with one religio-ethnic community and then the question remains if religious education that privileges that religious community can provide such shared terms of meaning for members of different communities. This is the challenge faced by such countries at Bulgaria, Israel, Malaysia and in a slightly different way (facing not religious diversity but ethnic difference), Turkey. The case of Cyprus, by contrast, is one of a country actually split along lines of ethno-religious difference. Additional studies of the connection between religious education and the terms of citizenship in the EU, France and the USA provide important contrasts to the challenges facing us as we seek to educate our citizenry in an age of religious resurgence and global politics"--

The Routledge Handbook of Religious Literacy, Pluralism, and Global Engagement

The Routledge Handbook of Religious Literacy, Pluralism, and Global Engagement PDF Author: Chris Seiple
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 100050932X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 459

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Book Description
This pioneering handbook proposes an approach to pluralism that is relational, principled, and non-relativistic, going beyond banal calls for mere "tolerance." The growing religious diversity within societies around the world presents both challenges and opportunities. A degree of competition between deeply held religious/worldview perspectives is natural and inevitable, yet at the same time the world urgently needs engagement and partnership across lines of difference. None of the world’s most pressing problems can be solved by any single actor, and as such it is not a question of if but when you partner with an individual or institution that does not think, act, or believe as you do. The authors argue that religious literacy—defined as a dynamic combination of competencies and skills, continuously refined through real-world cross-cultural engagement—is vital to building societies and states of neighborly solidarity and civic fairness. Through examination, reflection, and case studies across multiple faith traditions and professional fields, this handbook equips scholars and students, as well as policymakers and practitioners, to assess, analyze, and act collaboratively in a world of deep diversity. The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

Rethinking Religious Education and Plurality

Rethinking Religious Education and Plurality PDF Author: Robert Jackson
Publisher: Psychology Press
ISBN: 9780415302715
Category : Religious education
Languages : en
Pages : 236

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Book Description
This text offers a critical view of approaches to the treatment of different religions in contemporary education, in order to devise approaches to teaching and learning and to formulate policies and procedures that are fair and just to all.

International Handbook of the Religious, Moral and Spiritual Dimensions in Education

International Handbook of the Religious, Moral and Spiritual Dimensions in Education PDF Author: Marian de Souza
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1402052464
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 1417

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Book Description
In today’s pluralistic world, many cultures feel a shift in the relationship of people with religious traditions. A corresponding movement is a resurgence of interest in human spirituality. This Handbook presents the views of education scholars who engage these concepts every day, in a collection of essays reflecting the international state of the discipline. Out of these rises a vision for the emergence of a just and peaceful world.

Worship across the Racial Divide

Worship across the Racial Divide PDF Author: Gerardo Marti
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199912165
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 281

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Book Description
Many scholars and church leaders believe that music and worship style are essential in stimulating diversity in congregations. Gerardo Marti draws on interviews with more than 170 congregational leaders and parishioners, as well as his experiences participating in worship services in a wide variety of Protestant, multiracial Southern Californian churches, to present this insightful study of the role of music in creating congregational diversity. Worship across the Racial Divide offers a surprising conclusion: that there is no single style of worship or music that determines the likelihood of achieving a multiracial church. Far more important are the complex of practices of the worshipping community in the production and absorption of music. Multiracial churches successfully diversify by stimulating unobtrusive means of interracial and interethnic relations; in fact, preparation for music apart from worship gatherings proves to be just as important as its performance during services. Marti shows that aside from and even in spite of the varying beliefs of attendees and church leaders, diversity happens because music and worship create practical spaces where cross-racial bonds are formed. This groundbreaking book sheds light on how race affects worship in multiracial churches. It will allow a new understanding of the dynamics of such churches, and provide crucial aid to church leaders for avoiding the pitfalls that inadvertently widen the racial divide.

The Gagging of God

The Gagging of God PDF Author: D. A. Carson
Publisher: Zondervan Academic
ISBN: 0310830680
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 641

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Book Description
The Gold Medallion Award-winning book that presents a persuasive case for Christ as the only way to God in light of contemporary religious pluralism. A great majority of social commentators attempting to define modern Western culture land on a common characteristic: pluralism. This isn't unique to secular culture. Many modern approaches to Christian hermeneutics, or biblical interpretation, have given credence to contemporary pluralism. What began as a refreshing restraint and humility in modern theology has fallen more and more into irresoluteness. It's no secret that the contemporary challenges to Christianity are complex and serious. Yet, far from simple fear-mongering, or cultural warmongering, The Gagging of God takes a hard look at the background and intricacy—of pluralism, postmodernity, and hermeneutics—and equips thoughtful Christians to have intelligent, culturally sensitive, and passionate fidelity to the gospel of Jesus Christ. In his contemplative, even-handed approach, Carson provides a structure of Christian thought capable of facing the philosophies of today and piercing their surface. It invites Christians to grapple responsibly with urgent questions of biblically-grounded theology, spirituality, and the defining lines of Christianity, along with its range of challenges from without and within. The Gagging of God offers an in-depth look at the big picture, shows how the many ramifications of pluralism are all parts of a whole, and provides a systematic Christian response.

Education as Transformation

Education as Transformation PDF Author: Victor H. Kazanjian
Publisher: Peter Lang Incorporated, International Academic Publishers
ISBN:
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 350

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Book Description
A collection of 28 essays written by a range of educators, including presidents, deans, faculty members, students, and religious life professionals, on themes of religious pluralism and spirituality in higher education. Essays provide scholarly analysis, practical information, and inspiration for those who agree that higher education can combine both head and heart in the teaching and learning process and in campus and community life. Kazanjian is Dean of Religious and Spiritual Life and Co-Director of the Peace and Justice Studies Program at Wellesley College. Laurence is Co-Founder and Director of the Education as Transformation Project at Wellesley College. Material stems from a September 1998 meeting. The volume lacks a subject index. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Religious Pluralism in America

Religious Pluralism in America PDF Author: William R. Hutchison
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300129572
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
Religious toleration is enshrined as an ideal in our Constitution, but religious diversity has had a complicated history in the United States. Although Americans have taken justifiable pride in the rich array of religious faiths that help define our nation, for two centuries we have been grappling with the question of how we can coexist. In this ambitious reappraisal of American religious history, William Hutchison chronicles the country’s struggle to fulfill the promise of its founding ideals. In 1800 the United States was an overwhelmingly Protestant nation. Over the next two centuries, Catholics, Mormons, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, and others would emerge to challenge the Protestant mainstream. Although their demands were often met with resistance, Hutchison demonstrates that as a result of these conflicts we have expanded our understanding of what it means to be a religiously diverse country. No longer satisfied with mere legal toleration, we now expect that all religious groups will share in creating our national agenda. This book offers a groundbreaking and timely history of our efforts to become one nation under multiple gods.

Religious Pluralism, Democracy, and the Catholic Church in Latin America

Religious Pluralism, Democracy, and the Catholic Church in Latin America PDF Author: Frances Hagopian
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 532

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Book Description
The essays in this volume assess the ways in which the Catholic Church in Latin America is dealing with these political, religious, and social changes.