Christian Smith on religious pluralism

Last updated on: October 17, 2011 at 10:11 am by Bradley Wright

Christian Smith on religious pluralism 2011-10-17T10:11:57-05:00 Bradley Wright

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Christian Smith has a wonderful op-ed on the Huffington Post.

He makes a strong case for “authentic pluralism”–avoiding both sectarian conflict on one side and what he terms “liberal whateverism” on the other. Here is part of his conclusion:

I think we need to reject both sectarian conflict and liberal whateverism and commit ourselves instead to an authentic pluralism. Genuine pluralism fosters a culture that honors rather than isolates and disparages religious difference. It affirms the right of others to believe and practice their faith, not only in their private lives but also in the public square — while expecting them to allow still others to do the same. Authentic pluralism does not minimize religious differences by saying that “all religions are ultimately the same.” That is false and insipid. Pluralism encourages good conversations and arguments across differences, taking them seriously precisely because they are understood to be about important truths, not merely private “opinions.” It is possible, authentic pluralism insists, to profoundly disagree with others while at the same time respecting, honoring, and perhaps even loving them. Genuine pluralism suspects the multi-cultural regime’s too-easy blanket affirmations of “tolerance” of being patronizing and dismissive. Pluralism, however, also counts atheist Americans as deserving equal public respect, since their beliefs are based as much on a considered faith as are religious views and so should not be automatically denigrated.”

Despite the quality of his arguments, I’m guessing that the longest-lasting contribution of this piece will be the catchy, and somewhat dismissive, phrase “liberal whateverism.” Nicely done.

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