Context Of Cultural Pluralism Research Articles

Multicultural Society as a Challenge for Coexistence in Europe

The aim of this article is to show that the intercultural way of education, which includes the interreligious dimension, is a fundamental way to create and maintain conditions for coexistence in a multicultural society. The background of this claim is represented in the belief that the starting point of every encounter with the other and the different should be the human being and its experience of humanity, not an intellectual polemic about doctrines and ideologies. Schools are particularly suitable for such a more personal manner of dialogue. The topic is discussed primarily in a philosophical way from a Christian (Catholic) perspective. The context of reflection is the European society marked by Christianity, secularization and, increasingly, Islam. Croatia is also mentioned, as the issue of multiculturality is becoming increasingly topical there. The context of cultural pluralism is presented first. Then, the necessity of dialogue based on the experience of everyday life is highlighted. The next section is focused on the analysis of the multicultural society’s need for values that are acceptable for all members of society in order to maintain social peace and mutual respect and cooperation. The following chapter deals with the difficulties and challenges of dialogue. Then, the section after that presents an analysis of the fundamental European documents that provide crucial guidelines for understanding religious and cultural pluralism and the role of religions in a multicultural and multireligious society as values on which society should be built. Finally, the place and role of religious education is discussed as a vital and unavoidable factor in co-creating the preconditions for appropriate coexistence in a multicultural society.

What drives the use of natural products for medicinal purposes in the context of cultural pluralism?

IntroductionWhat are the drivers of health seeking behaviors in a culturally diverse scenario? A context of medical and cultural pluralism with native and migrant people in NE Brazil was chosen to study the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) and official medicine (OM) products and their drivers. MethodsA one-year therapeutic recall was used to obtain information on individual health problems, products to treat their problems and access to health services. A generalized linear model (GLM (binomial errors) was employed to indicate the variables that better explained therapeutic choices. ResultsMost people use both CAM and OM products and most illnesses are treated by both systems. The GLM indicated that women, migrants and people that turns to primary health-care services (PHCs) in a lower extent are more likely to exclusively chose CAM products and are also more likely to prioritize them. Frequentation of the local health center also leads to a proportionally higher use of CAM products than the frequentation of other PHCs from the surroundings. ConclusionsWomen, migrants and people that do not frequent PHCs are the main supporters of CAM products. In the case of migrant people, their high adhesion to CAM products (especially medicinal plants) can turn them into new depositors of local (traditional) knowledge, although this knowledge will not be dissoluble from other types of medicinal plant knowledge.

‘Neither Jew nor Greek’: The Church in Africa and the Quest for Self-Understanding in the Light of the Pauline Vision and Today's Context of Cultural Pluralism

The foundation of Paul's vision of the Christian community as ‘neither Jew nor Greek’ is his radical appreciation of the Grace of God at work in the Christ-Event. This radical notion of divine grace enables Paul to affirm Jews and Gentiles in their cultural particularities as well as to humble them in their cultural hegemonic pretensions. In this way, Paul lays the foundation for mutual tolerance and respect between Jews and Gentiles in the Christian community. This article argues that a re-presentation of the Pauline vision in today's context of cultural pluralism could serve African theologians as a biblical-ecclesiological model in their quest for a proper self-understanding of the African Church, that will lead to the formation of a local Christian culture and local Christian churches existing alongside other local churches and sharing the same status in terms of access to salvation and other aspects of the Church's life.