Diversity vs. Pluralism: Reflections on the Current Situation in the United States
Journal Title: Religions - Year 2017, Vol 8, Issue 9
Abstract
The United States has considerable religious and ethnic diversity; it has not always embraced pluralism. Known as “a nation of immigrants”, religion has often been seen as a way to integrate newcomers into its national project. That may have worked for European immigrants, who could become ‘White’; it has not worked so well for other ethnic migrants, who could not. The result is a diverse intersectionality that as the present moment is a source of significant religious, ethnic, and political division. Are calls for a vaguely defined “pluralism” enough? No, because deeper social factors are at work. These include increasing economic inequality, a complex split between socio-economic elites and the rest of the population, and shifts in the nature of the religious field. The latter include increased religious individualism, individually oriented prosperity theology, and a sectarian turn among American Evangelicals. Such factors make any simple call for pluralist engagement at best naïve. It is an open question whether or how social unity might be sufficiently reforged.
Authors and Affiliations
James V. Spickard
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP25761
- DOI https://doi.org/10.3390/rel8090169
- Views 396
- Downloads 10
Transcending Gender: Female Non-Buddhists’ Experiences of the Vipassana¯ Meditation Retreat
Female non-Buddhists have been writing detailed descriptions of their personal experiences in vipassana¯ meditation retreats since the 1960s. These memoirists relate to the English-speaking world their experience of th...
An Economy of Grace
This essay is adapted from a plenary talk the author gave at the “Growing Apart: The Implications of Economic Inequality” interdisciplinary conference at Boston College on 9 April 2016, as well as portions of his book...
Reframing Catholic Theological Ethics: Summary and Application
This text represents a summary of the major points developed in the book, Reframing Catholic Theological Ethics, and a brief overview of how the author understands the relation between religion, ethics, and the buildin...
Religious Contexts and Violence in Emerging and Traditional Immigrant Destinations
Amidst both a resurgent interest in the impact of religion on social problems like crime, including its contextual effects, as well as scholarship directed toward the immigration-crime intersection, the current study e...
Globalization and Religion in Historical Perspective: A Paradoxical Relationship
Religion has long been a driving force in the process of globalization. This idea is not controversial or novel thinking, nor is it meant to be. However, the dominant reasoning on the subject of globalization, expresse...