Confronting Intolerance

Confronting Intolerance: Critical, Responsive Literacy Instruction with Adult Immigrants captures the experience of adult immigrants who are improving their English literacy while confronting an intolerant political culture. It examines recent immigration policy and the anti-immigrant fervor that has gripped the United States and describes the perseverance and struggles of immigrant students to pursue their goals through literacy education.

In recent years, hate incidents, whether based on race, gender, sexual orientation, nation of origin, or any other perceived difference, have become increasingly common in schools. Students who aren't the victims of hate and intolerance are almost certain to witness it. This unstinting but ultimately optimistic book defines hate and intolerance, explores the reasons some people express hate toward others, and gives readers a blueprint for recognizing and deflecting hate with nonviolence and kindness. Ten questions for an expert, myths and facts about intolerance, and thought-provoking sidebars round out this timely volume.

In recent years, hate incidents, whether based on race, gender, sexual orientation, nation of origin, or any other perceived difference, have become increasingly common in schools. Students who aren't the victims of hate and intolerance are almost certain to witness it. This unstinting but ultimately optimistic book defines hate and intolerance, explores the reasons some people express hate toward others, and gives readers a blueprint for recognizing and deflecting hate with nonviolence and kindness. Ten questions for an expert, myths and facts about intolerance, and thought-provoking sidebars round out this timely volume.

"Though Sri Lanka's three-decade long armed conflict came to an end in 2009, hopes for a peaceful transition have been marred by ongoing violence against the country's minorities. Post-war triumphalism and resurgent ethno-nationalism, including the formation of Buddhist nationalist groups, has contributed to an increasingly hostile environment for the country's religious minorities, in particular Muslims and Christians. This has manifested in various forms, including threats and hate speech, attacks on places of worship and mass violence, enabled by a culture of widespread impunity. Drawing on incidents documented by local rapporteurs between November 2015 and September 2016, this report presents an overview of the major trends and specific challenges for Sri Lanka's Christians and Muslims. While the reported data indicates a decline in direct physical violence, suggesting that extremist groups such as Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) and others have less space to operate under the current government, the findings nevertheless demonstrate that significant problems persist. Crucially, there also remain substantial gaps in terms of legal action against perpetrators of religious violence and discrimination. This is despite the fact that the Sri Lankan Constitution guarantees the right to equality, non-discrimination, and freedom of religion and religious worship, highlighting a persistent culture of impunity when it comes to such acts. Ensuring the full rights and protections of all religious communities in the country is essential if Sri Lanka is to move forward from the traumas of its past towards a more peaceful and sustainable future"--Publisher's web site.

What impulse prompted some newspapers to attribute the murder of 77 Norwegians to Islamic extremists, until it became evident that a right-wing Norwegian terrorist was the perpetrator? Why did Switzerland, a country of four minarets, vote to ban those structures? How did a proposed Muslim cultural center in lower Manhattan ignite a fevered political debate across the United States? In The New Religious Intolerance, Martha C. Nussbaum surveys such developments and identifies the fear behind these reactions. Drawing inspiration from philosophy, history, and literature, she suggests a route past this limiting response and toward a more equitable, imaginative, and free society. Fear, Nussbaum writes, is "more narcissistic than other emotions." Legitimate anxieties become distorted and displaced, driving laws and policies biased against those different from us. Overcoming intolerance requires consistent application of universal principles of respect for conscience. Just as important, it requires greater understanding. Nussbaum challenges us to embrace freedom of religious observance for all, extending to others what we demand for ourselves. She encourages us to expand our capacity for empathetic imagination by cultivating our curiosity, seeking friendship across religious lines, and establishing a consistent ethic of decency and civility. With this greater understanding and respect, Nussbaum argues, we can rise above the politics of fear and toward a more open and inclusive future.

American narratives often celebrate the nation's rich heritage of religious freedom. There is, however, a less told and often ignored part of the story: the ways that intolerance and cultures of hate have manifested themselves within American religious hi

In this work, Amos Guiora defines extremism through the lens of a comparative and empirical study in order to lay the foundations for a legal response that considers the tradeoffs that may be necessary to deal with it.

As the news shows us every day, contemporary American culture and politics are rife with people who demonize their enemies by projecting their own failings and flaws onto them. But this is no recent development. Rather, as John Corrigan argues here, it’s an expression of a trauma endemic to America’s history, particularly involving our long domestic record of religious conflict and violence. Religious Intolerance, America, and the World spans from Christian colonists’ intolerance of Native Americans and the role of religion in the new republic’s foreign-policy crises to Cold War witch hunts and the persecution complexes that entangle Christians and Muslims today. Corrigan reveals how US churches and institutions have continuously campaigned against intolerance overseas even as they’ve abetted or performed it at home. This selective condemnation of intolerance, he shows, created a legacy of foreign policy interventions promoting religious freedom and human rights that was not reflected within America’s own borders. This timely, captivating book forces America to confront its claims of exceptionalism based on religious liberty—and perhaps begin to break the grotesque cycle of projection and oppression.