Hicks claim that no human concept applies to the Ultimate Reality has been criticized by many, whove pointed out that Hick applies these concepts to it: being one, being ultimate, being a partial cause of the impersonae and personae, and being ineffable. Religious Pluralism., Schmidt-Leukel, Perry. Cultural Diversity: Definition & Meaning | Purdue Global A common strategy here is to simply ignore disreputable religious traditions, only discussing the prestigious ones. Consider the claim that the cosmos was intentionally made. Diversity Guide - Religion and Belief - Equality and Diversity A muted ally in this was the influential religious scholar Mircea Eliade (1907-86), whose work focused on comparing mythologies, and on what he viewed as an important, primitive religious outlook, which separates things into the sacred and the profane. (Sharma 1999, ch. Diversity also includes characteristics such as professional skills, working style, location, and life experiences. Some characteristics of religion are the worship of gods or prophets, beliefs in a system of norms and values, symbology or places of worship. While elements within it have been sectarian and exclusivistic, modern Hindu thought is usually pluralistic. The underlying metaphysics here is that of process philosophy, in which events are the basic or fundamental units of reality. Catholics are exhorted to patient, friendly dialogue with members of other religions. This perennial philosophy appeals to many present-day people, particularly those who, like Smith, have moved from a childhood religious faith, in his case, Christianity, to a more naturalistic and, hence, atheistic outlook. First, we have the protected characteristics, such as race, age, gender and sexual orientation. Nor can he be fruitful and multiply while living as a celibate Buddhist monk. true? On the one hand, it is difficult to consistently distinguish inclusivism from exclusivism, because the latter nearly always concedes some significant value to other religions. Though not true, doctrines such as the Trinity or the Incarnation, he argues, may be interpreted to have mythological truth, that is, a tendency to influence people towards getting what Hick postulates is the cure offered by the religions, the ethical transformation described above. Religious difference has become a factor in local and global conflicts and peace building. In the Decree for the Copts of the General Council of Florence (1442), a papal bull issued by pope Eugene IV (r. 1431-47), for the first time in an official Roman Catholic doctrinal document the slogan was asserted not only with respect to heretics and schismatics, but also concerning Jews and pagans. (Hick 1995, ch. Finally, inclusivist theories try to steer a middle course by agreeing with exclusivism that one religion has the most value while also agreeing with pluralism that others still have significant religious value. One goes so far as to say that the Holy Spirit offers to all [humans] the possibility of being associated, in a way known to God, with the Paschal Mystery [that is, the saving death and resurrection of Jesus]. (Gaudium et Spes 22, quoted in Dupuis 2001, 162) Some Catholic theologians see the groundwork or beginning in these documents for an inclusivist theory, on which other religions have saving value. 3, 3-4). (Heim 1995, 154-5, 161) This is an important qualifier, as various religious goals clearly presuppose contrary claims. On such a metaphysics, any apparent substance (being, entity) turns out to be one or more events or processes. PDF How would you define diversity? - UNC Gillings School of Global Public A more inclusive and equitable workplace can lead to increased employee engagement, satisfaction, and productivity. Diversity can include characteristics such as cultural background and ethnicity, age, gender, gender identity, disability, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, language and education. Unfortunately, it is often used with some mix of the above values in mind, leaving it unclear exactly which values are pertinent. It can build strength of character, pride, and confidence. Letters by Pius XII (r. 1939-58) declared that a by an unconscious desire and longing non-Catholics may enjoy a saving relationship with the church. In this article, religious pluralism refers to a theory about the diversity of religions. The second part contains answers to questions linked to the treatment of differences in religious education in Croatia and characteristics of teachers that can be linked to this theme. But these lesser ways should and eventually will give way to Christianity, the truest religion, intended for all humankind. The exclusivist-inclusivist-pluralist trichotomy has become standard since the 1980s. Religious and Spiritual Diversity | The Office of Diversity, Inclusion Though naive pluralisms are not common amongst scholars in relevant fields, they are important to mention because they are entertained by many people as they begin to reflect on religious diversity. Again, if a Christian diagnosis is correct, that humans are alienated from and need to be reconciled to God, yet some manage to attain Nirvana, they would still lack the cure, for it is no part of Nirvana that one is reconciled to God. Religious Diversity and its Challenges to Religious Belief.. 6). [This entry examines the origins and differing patterns of development of the world's major religious traditions, as well as the varying patterns of interaction between these religions and the social, political, and economic frameworks with which they coexist. Still other Catholic theologians have found these moves to be positive but not nearly different enough from the more pessimistic sort of exclusivism. Thus, if central Christian teachings are true, then so is at least one central teaching of these two rival religions. However, his theory seems to depend crucially on the existence of many human problems, each of which may be solved by participation in some religion or other. al. What Is Cultural Diversity And Why Is It Important? - University of the (Long 2011) Still, some Hindus object to various kinds of pluralism. This celestial plane is a personal God. (Sharma 1979) But if there is no one clear modern Hindu pluralism, it remains that various modern Indian thinkers have held to versions of core or identist pluralism. An improvement upon naive pluralism acknowledges differences in all the aspects of religions, but separates peripheral from core differences. It would seem that that, for example, a Christian to accept this ultimist pluralism, she will have to reinterpret what many Christians will regard as a core commitment, namely, that the ultimate reality is personal. Others dissent because they accept the incompatible diagnosis and cure taught by some other religion, such as the ones found in Islam or Christianity. Moreover, it seems a necessary truth that if the concept personal doesnt apply to the Real, then the concept non-personal must apply to it. Perhaps these are the angels, devas, and heavenly Buddhas of the religions, great but nonetheless finite beings. As a result, he became convinced that basically the same thing was going on with these others religious followers as with Christians, namely, people responding in culturally conditioned but transformative ways to one and the same Real or Ultimate Reality. It is a mistake to think that the ultimate is any substantial, self-identical thing, even an ineffable one. The impetus for this change was fueled by statements from that council (their Latin titles: Lumen Gentium, Ad Gentes, Nostra Aetate, Gaudium et Spes, Heilsoptimismus), which are in various ways positive towards non-Catholics. 3) To say that it is either, Hick realizes, would be to hand an epistemic victory to either the monotheists or the absolutists (ultimists). Preparation For The Future If a workplace has done the necessary work, it's bound to be culturally diverse. All Christians believe that some were saved before Christianity, through Judaism. Among young adults (age 18 to 29), the most common religious identity today is none; more than one in three (34 percent) young adults are religiously unaffiliated. 2; see section 3c below). For example, people have empirically disconfirmed claims that Jesus will visibly return to rule the earth from Jerusalem in 1974, or that magical ghost shirts will protect the wearer from bullets, or that saying a certain mantra three times will protect one from highway robbers. A theory of religious pluralism says that all religions of some kind are the same in some valuable respect(s). This, it is hoped, rules out anyone having grounds for believing any particular religion to be the uniquely best religion. If a religion cures only a shallow, derivative human problem, leaving the deeper problem intact, then what it offers would not deserve the name salvation, for it would leave those who achieve it still in need of the cure. Diversity refers to all of the ways in which people differ, including primary characteristics, such as age, race, gender, ethnicity, mental and physical abilities, and sexual orientation; and secondary characteristics, such as nationality, education, income, religion, work experience, language skills, geographic location, family status, Even God, the greatest concrete, actual being in this philosophy is, in the end, an all-encompassing unity of experience, and is to be understood as a process of Creative-Responsive love. (Griffin 2005b; Cooper 2006, ch. These ideas, and the fact that religious belief is strongly correlated with birthplace, convinced him that the facts of religious diversity pose irresolvable problems for any exclusivist or inclusivist view, leaving only some form of pluralism as a viable option. The most and least racially diverse U.S. religious groups 2013, 268-72) Third, religions differ in how much, if at all, they make empirically verifiable claims, so it is unclear that all religions will be equal in making meaningless claims. Facts and Theories of Religious Diversity Scholars distinguish seven aspects of religious traditions: the doctrinal and philosophical, the mythic and narrative, the ethical and legal, the ritual and practical, the experiential and emotional, the social and organizational, and the material and artistic. One prominent scholar argues that the neo-Hindu position on religious diversity (that is, modern Hindu pluralism) is not the view that all religions are equal, one, true, or the same. Beyond this is infinite, unlimited Being (also called Absolute Truth, the True Reality, the Absolute, God). What Is Religion? Defining the Characteristics of Religion As a relative latecomer which has always acknowledged the legitimacy of previous prophets, including Abraham, Moses, and Jesus, while proclaiming its prophet to be the greatest and last, Islam has, like Judaism, tended towards inclusivist views of other religions. 2) He was what we now call a pluralistic Hindu (and most Hindus would add that he was also an unorthodox Hindu). It is hard to see, then, how his theory enables one to be, as Hick claimed to be, a pluralistic Christian, given that one has replaced the diagnosis and cure of Christianity with those of Hicks pluralism. Cultivating Awareness of Religious and Spiritual Diversity (Heim 1995, 163) This is consistent with the Christian thinking that the end pursued by Christians is in fact better than all others; thus, heaven is better than Nirvana. Wouldnt this be to attribute more reality to God than shes willing to? Following these same steps, our second . Starting as a traditional, non-pluralistic Christian, Hick attended religious meetings and studied with people of other religions. Now that the time is right, the truth may be told, that is, Mahayana doctrine, superseding the old. Here we can survey only a few of the criticisms that have been made. (Morales 2008), Within the pluralistic mainstream of Hinduism, a popular slogan is that all religions are true, but this may be an expression of almost any sort of positive religious pluralism. Some forms of naive pluralism suppose that all religions will turn out to be complementary. 7; Griffin 2005b). Instead, it is the view that all religions are valid, meaning that they have some degree of (some kind of) value. Hick doesnt argue for the salvific or cure-delivering equality of all religions. What do we mean by Race, Ethnicity and Diversity? - Kansas State University (Yandell 2013), Again, it has been objected that Hick, contrary to many religions, downgrades religious practice and belief as inessential to a religion, the only important features of a religion being that it is a response to the Ultimate Reality and that it fosters the ethical transformation noted above.