From Porous Borders to Cosmopolitan Horizons: Beyond Interreligious Dialogue and Multiple Belonging

Abstract

The chapter brings together the North and the South in promoting religious cosmopolitanism. It is something that goes beyond interreligious dialogue and multiple religious belonging. There is much talk and discussion about cosmopolitanism in the field of politics, but very little on the religious front. The universalistic spirit inspiring religions should manifest itself in the practice of cosmopolitanism. Religious cosmopolitanism is an attitude and way of life which hleps a person to feel at home in any religious universe. It views all religions with their heritage as belonging primarily to the entire humankind and not limited to only to those who claim to owe allegiance to particular religions. Religious cosmopolitanism assumes that every religion has a universal mission. Cosmopolitanism goes also beyond hybridity and syncretism. The practice of religious cosmopolitanism helps the creation of inclusive communities and foster universal solidarity.KeywordsReligions beyond their followersMultiple religious belongingSense of mysteryIndra’s netReligions and universal missionUniversality from belowCosmopolitanism elite and vernacularCosmopolitan solidarity