The Secular Realm as Interfaith Space: Discourse and Practice in Contemporary Multicultural Nation-States

Hedges Hedges

doi:10.3390/rel10090498

Abstract

While classically posited as the separation of religion from public life, it is suggested that the contemporary secular public sphere in multicultural contexts has become a habitat for interfaith dialogue. Looking at dynamics in classical secular theory as well as some recent theorists of secularism and multiculturalism, most particularly Jürgen Habermas, Charles Taylor, Tariq Modood, and Rajeev Bhargava, it is shown that far from being hostile to religion much of the practice of secularism is often entwined with particular discourses of religious norms. Using spatial theory, especially that of Lefebvre, four cameos from the UK, USA, Singapore, and India are used as indicative of the way that interfaith discourse is embedded in various aspects of the secular public sphere from governmental, through official Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), to grassroots levels such that as forum externum religion is accepted in this space as interfaith dialogue. It is argued that a conceptual linkage of interfaith motifs is, if not inherent, then at least embedded in the secular realm in the contemporary multicultural context.

Highlights

The last few centuries have seen Western cultural and political hegemony spread its interpretations of state and society globally
It is generally accepted that secularism rests upon two pillars, or principles, one derived from what is seen as the French model and the other from what is seen as the American model
While we have looked at various theorists, none of them sees interfaith dialogue as good per se within the public sphere, it is arguably something that could be said to be implicit within at least some arguments advanced

Summary

Introduction

The last few centuries have seen Western cultural and political hegemony spread its interpretations of state and society globally. While in some ways each is a prototypical or commonly cited example of a secular state, they all show aspects of the diversity found within the actual practice of secularism in the running of a country, and the rough edges where the theories of the divide of religion and secularism are seen to fray against the hard facts of life (Hedges forthcoming). We will draw this survey together with a look at theories of space and place to show how an interfaith space is found within the public sphere. Some conclusions for theorising both conceptual and practical issues will be addressed to draw the paper to a close

The Secular–Religious Divide

Concepts and Cameos

The Spatial and Interfaith Dialogue

Conclusions