- Title
- God, freedom and nature: transdisciplinary reflections on the discourse of religion and theology
- Creator
- Laura, Ronald; Buchanan, Rachel
- Relation
- The Biennial Conference in Philosophy, Religion and Culture. God, Freedom and Nature: Proceedings of the biennial conference in philosophy, religion and culture, 2012 (Strathfield, N.S.W. 5-7 October, 2012) p. 1-5
- Relation
- http://www.cis.catholic.edu.au/news-a-events/biennial-conference
- Publisher
- Body and Soul Dynamics
- Resource Type
- conference paper
- Date
- 2012
- Description
- The conference on God, Freedom and Nature affords its readers the opportunity to canvass in one volume a wide array of deeply engaging discussions of transdisciplinary approaches to some of the most challenging and seemingly intractable problems in philosophical theology, the history of religion, the philosophy and sociology of religion, and what we shall call ‘feminist theocritical discourse’. What is novel about this Proceedings is the originality which results from the subtle way in which the diversity of its topics is skilfully enfolded in a tolerably coherent and insightful framework of transdisciplinary perspective, thus seeking insight from beyond the conceptual boundaries which define many of the more conventional considerations of these issues. The heuristic ‘backdrop’, so to say, against which much of the systematic elucidation and analysis within which the book unfolds is strongly influenced by the increasing emergence around the globe of multicultural societies. The way in which any particular society deals with the ramifications of multiculturalism will obviously vary, depending partly upon whether the ‘host culture’ and its socio-political disposition is democratic, communist, despotic or driven by fundamentalist religiosity. Because multicultural societies are populated by people, either through ‘historical entwinement’ or policies of welcoming immigration, who not infrequently possess radically different religions, moral and political beliefs, the harmonic balance of the society and the measure of its peaceful cohabitation can be seriously challenged, as was witnessed in the Sydney 2012 riots by Muslim extremists, to name just one level of many global examples. The complexity of the potential tensions which can arise from the amalgam of sociocultural conflict of this kind can be highly threatening to the state of social cohesion a multicultural society is capable of sustaining. Sadly, the often long history of conflict which existed among people of different religious traditions in their homeland countries prior to immigration can be imported as an ‘unhealed heart’ that lingers hauntingly in painful memories that might otherwise have diminished, were it not for the hatred preserved by the persistent intimations of worldwide religious fanaticism in the service of its own vested interests. This being so, the point and purposes of immigration are self-stultifying for some of those who undertake it, by inevitably disrupting the very conditions of social harmony and the dream of freedom and peace that prompted their immigrant journey in the first place. Moreover, it is clear that many of the fundamentalist beliefs expressed by diverse ethnic groups are not only in direct contradiction with each other, but can be antithetical to the religious claims made by another sect within the same religion. Multiculturalism aims to provide a social context for religious freedom, but depending upon how radically the beliefs of a religion depart from ‘the law of the land’, so to say, multiculturalism inevitably becomes politically problematic. Freedom of any kind does not come without responsibility. The freedom to worship is a fundamental right, but no person or religious group has the freedom, for example, to sequester, commandeer or otherwise violate a mosque, church or temple belonging to another group to exercise that right.
- Subject
- religion; theology; multiculturalism
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1059324
- Identifier
- uon:16572
- Identifier
- ISBN:9780646589183
- Language
- eng
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