Abstract
In this paper I analyze how to understand and deal with the challenge of religious pluralization and diversity from a Buddhist perspective. I argue that the different beliefs and convictions we encounter in Europe today pose a challenge which has to be dealt with. Social cohesion and peace in contemporary societies not only require basic principles such as equality and religious freedom to be respected, but also a readiness to take responsibility and accept certain rules in order to live and act together harmoniously. In the case of Europe, taking gender equality and religious education at school as examples, this framework has to be the European rule of law. In this context I question the dichotomous division between the secular and the religious, and whether our European understanding of the secular needs to be adjusted in order to include rather than exclude practitioners of religion.
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Notes
- 1.
An overview over different approaches in the context of tripolar typology and how they differ from each other is given by Vélez (2013, 28–31).
- 2.
Views (Tib. lta ba, Skt. dṛṣṭi), attitudes (Tib. sems pa, Skt. cetanā) or practice (Tib. spyod pa, Skt. carya) are common Buddhist categories, when using them. Vélez, however, is not thinking about Sanskrit terms here. (Personal correspondence 13.01.2016).
- 3.
For a discussion of Buddhist ethics and what distinguishes them from dominate Western ethical theory see Garfield (2015, 278–317).
- 4.
In Buddhism these four mental attitudes are referred to as ‘The Four Immeasurables’ (Skt. catvāryapramāṇāni) which are shared by all three main Buddhist traditions, i.e., Theravāda, East Asian Buddhism (including Zen), and Tibetan Buddhism. It is one of three devices I have chosen to illustrate Buddhism’s capability for openness toward the religious other. For a detailed discussion see Roloff (2016).
- 5.
For details from a Buddhist perspective see also my chapter on ‘Examples of Various Forms of Interreligious Dialogue in Buddhism’ in Roloff (2014, 265–268).
- 6.
The Volkswagen Foundation regularly funds scientific events held at Herrenhausen Palace in Hanover. In October 2016, at this conference on ‘Religious Pluralisation—A Challenge for Modern Societies’ different challenges of religious pluralization and the contribution to be made by interreligious dialogue in the areas of societal and scientific discourse were discussed.
- 7.
See for example the report in the Neue Zürcher Zeitung: https://www.nzz.ch/articleE71NW-1.38515. Accessed 26 February 2017.
- 8.
For the full text see: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/FreedomReligion/Pages/Annual.aspx. Accessed 26 August 2017.
- 9.
The Vatican’s machinations and interference etc., especially with conservative Muslims, more specific as to the actual event have been discussed by Joy in a paper she gave first in 2004 in Helsinki and then published with the Finnish journal, Temenos, in 2006, 17–18. There she describes what the controversy was about and gives more relevant dates. Retrieved on 27 August 2017 from https://journal.fi/temenos/article/view/4632/12465
- 10.
See: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Countries/Pages/HumanRightsintheWorld.aspx. Accessed 20 April 2017.
- 11.
In the Pacem in Terris (‘Peace on Earth’) Encyclical of Pope John XXIII, published on 11 April 1963, Ceming (2010, 73) sees an official acceptance of human rights by the Catholic Church. But it reads: ‘it is right to obey God rather than men’ (II, 51). See also IV, 143–144. Retrieved on 1 May 2017 from: http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-xxiii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_j-xxiii_enc_11041963_pacem.html
- 12.
See http://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/48/a48r104.htm. Accessed 24 April 2017. For the list who has ratified it, see https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=IV-8&chapter=4&lang=en. Accessed 2 May 2017.
- 13.
See no. 6 in Resolution 1464 (2005), retrieved on 26 August 2017: http://assembly.coe.int/nw/xml/XRef/Xref-XML2HTML-en.asp?fileid=17372&lang=en
- 14.
Article 14 of the European Convention for the Protection ofHuman Rightsand Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR) formulates the ‘Prohibition of discrimination’ as follows: ‘The enjoyment of the rights and freedoms set forth in this convention shall be secured without discrimination on any ground such as sex, race, colour, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, association with a national minority, property, birth or other status.’ For the full document see: http://www.echr.coe.int/Documents/Convention_ENG.pdf
- 15.
- 16.
LGBT is an acronym for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender.
- 17.
- 18.
The term ‘debate’, or philosophical (honest) debate (Tib. rtsod pa, Skt. vāda) is quite common to Buddhist scholars (McClintock 2010, 69) and it may be what they would first associate when it comes to having a dialogue with other religious traditions.
- 19.
http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2016/06/10/commemoration_of_st_mary_magdalene_raised_to_a_feast/1236157. Accessed 22 August 2016. See also Radio Vatican, news retrieved on 23 August 2016.
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Roloff, C. (2020). Dialogical Theology – Doing Theology Together. A Buddhist Response to the Challenge of Religious Pluralization. In: Körs, A., Weisse, W., Willaime, JP. (eds) Religious Diversity and Interreligious Dialogue. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-31856-7_20
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