The Problem Of Religious Diversity

Exploring Religious Diversity analyzes the philosophicalquestions raised by the fact that many religions in the world oftenappear to contradict each other in doctrine and practice. Analyzes the philosophical questions raised by the fact thatmany religions in the world often appear to contradict each otherin doctrine and practice. Evaluates the fundamental philosophical underpinnings of thedebates between religious and non-religious approaches to religiousdiversity. Contains a glossary that defines the book's key technical termsand how they are related to one another.

S ren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) famously critiqued Christendom -- especially the religious monoculture of his native Denmark. But what would he make of the dizzying diversity of religious life today? In this book George Connell uses Kierkegaard's thought to explore pressing questions that contemporary religious diversity poses. Connell unpacks an underlying tension in Kierkegaard, revealing both universalistic and particularistic tendencies in his thought. Kierkegaard's paradoxical vision of religious diversity, says Connell, allows for both respectful coexistence with people of different faiths and authentic commitment to one's own faith. Though Kierkegaard lived and wrote in a context very different from ours, this nuanced study shows that his searching reflections on religious faith remain highly relevant in our world today.

Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and adherents of other non-Western religions have become a significant presence in the United States in recent years. Yet many Americans continue to regard the United States as a Christian society. How are we adapting to the new diversity? Do we casually announce that we "respect" the faiths of non-Christians without understanding much about those faiths? Are we willing to do the hard work required to achieve genuine religious pluralism? Award-winning author Robert Wuthnow tackles these and other difficult questions surrounding religious diversity and does so with his characteristic rigor and style. America and the Challenges of Religious Diversity looks not only at how we have adapted to diversity in the past, but at the ways rank-and-file Americans, clergy, and other community leaders are responding today. Drawing from a new national survey and hundreds of in-depth qualitative interviews, this book is the first systematic effort to assess how well the nation is meeting the current challenges of religious and cultural diversity. The results, Wuthnow argues, are both encouraging and sobering--encouraging because most Americans do recognize the right of diverse groups to worship freely, but sobering because few Americans have bothered to learn much about religions other than their own or to engage in constructive interreligious dialogue. Wuthnow contends that responses to religious diversity are fundamentally deeper than polite discussions about civil liberties and tolerance would suggest. Rather, he writes, religious diversity strikes us at the very core of our personal and national theologies. Only by understanding this important dimension of our culture will we be able to move toward a more reflective approach to religious pluralism.

In On Religious Diversity Robert McKim distinguishes and examines a number of possible responses to the knowledge of diverse religious traditions that is available to all of us today. There is no escaping the fact that the presence of competing traditions now confronts each of the traditions in a new and forceful way. And there is widespread if inchoate recognition of genuine religious sensibilities and genuine religious seriousness in others. How might, and how should, an awareness of other traditions affect a member of a particular religious tradition? What attitudes should be taken to the beliefs and salvific prospects of members of other traditions? McKim examines several proposed answers to these questions, offering the deepest analysis to date of such options as exclusivism and inclusivism. He argues that what look like well-defined and discrete positions dissolve somewhat under scrutiny, revealing significantly different possibilities. McKim suggests where best to look for the most plausible answers and makes a case for the attractiveness of inclusivistic options. He pays particular attention to the religiously ambiguous nature of our circumstances and to the implications of this ambiguity.

Proposes an original approach to religious diversity, from religious pluralism and inter-faith dialogue to new existential challenges.

While religion can be a source of healing, peace, and reconciliation, it can also be a trigger, if not an underlying cause, for conflict between peoples of varying beliefs. With that awareness, the International Academy of Practical Theology convened its 2007 meeting around the theme of "Religion, Diversity, and Conflict." From the multiple seminars, lectures, and studies presented at that meeting, a selection was chosen for this book. Representing contributions from four continents, and drawing upon perspectives from African traditional religions, Judaism, Islam, and Christianity, the book offers a rich introduction to the problems and promises of religion in dialogue with 21st-century diversity. Religion, Diversity and Conflict will serve as a veritable primer on the field of practical theology. (Series: International Practical Theology - Vol. 15)

Could lessons from Asia, Oceania and the Middle East help Europe overcome the challenge of religious diversity? Religious diversity is one of the toughest challenges that today's European societies face in their search for identity, equality and cohesion in an increasingly globalised world. This book engages critically with the different models and approaches for managing religion adopted in Europe, Asia and Oceania in order to seek answers to this pressing normative, conceptual and policy issue.