Religion Of Tolerance Research Articles

Theoretical and Practical Vision on Forgiveness: A Systematic Review of Ancient and Contemporary Literature

Helping people avoid and overcome emotional problems in the wake of violence is one of the most important challenges for psychologists and social scientists. Moreover, promoting healthy development is as important as preventing problems and serves the same end more effectively.Forgiveness has a crucial role in attaining health and overall development, as it is an important healing mechanism which helps an individual to cope with guilt, injustice, grief and loss; supports to reenergize hearts and rebuilds life. Factually, holding on to bittemess and anger can cause problems of their own.As evident, learning and practicing forgiveness as a core value and faith had been directed as per religious, cultural and philosophical contexts only. With the recent developments in the psychology, forgiveness has been recognized as a positive attribute (Seligman et al., 2005). Forgiveness is also being associated with counseling and psychotherapeutic interventions (Gangdev, 2009). Similarly, psycho analytic (Akhtar, 2002; Siassi, 2004, 2007), dialectical, behavior (Sanderson & Linehan, 1999) and cognitive behavior therapists (Bono & McCullough, 2006) have found an important contribution of forgiveness in healing mechanism. Likewise, growing interest in spirituality has also created increased awareness of forgiveness (Peteet, 2007).On similar lines, the present paper revisited the concept of forgiveness and its correlates as recorded in ancient and contemporary documentation. For the purpose, the investigators explored, reviewed and analyzed the relevant literature available at primary and secondary sources. In particular, this piece of review covered the conceptual, religious, spiritual, philosophical, cultural, psychological and psychometric understanding of forgiveness.Forgiveness as a conceptTraditionally, forgiveness had been considered as a key human virtue and moral act. Recently with the advent of positive psychology, it is being seen as a psychological trait with great healing power. Conceptually, foigiveness is the mental, emotional and/or spiritual process of ceasing to feel resentment or anger against another person for a perceived offence, difference or mistake or ceasing to demand punishment or restitution (American Psychological Association, 2006). Although, there is no common definition, forgiveness is defined as a conscious choice to move away from pain, hurt, resentment and revenge that arises from an injustice, hurt, offence or betrayal. It can reduce the force these feelings and emotions otherwise have and thereby contributes to emotional, mental and physical well being. It strengthens and develops one's ability to live free and happier life. It is an attitude that helps to transform towards a life of peace, compassion, mercy, joy and kindness.Forgiveness and religionsWorld over, all the religions as social and corrective institutions have addressed the importance of forgiveness at different points of time. Some religious doctrines or philosophies place greater emphasis on the need for humans to find some sort of divine forgiveness for their own shortcomings, others give more importance to the need for humans to practice forgiveness of one another, yet others make little or no distinction between human and/or divine forgiveness.HinduismHinduism as a totally tolerant religion is a conglomerate of various faiths, teachings, and invocations of various sages and saints of different era. Vedas as the first scriptures along with Upanishads as independent treatises, are full of verses which speak of the Divine within man, and therefore Hindu Dharma (religion) implores to let go of grudges, resentment and especially self contempt. Vedas stress that foigiving others is good for health, as when hate and resentment become a way of life then one begins to worry and wonder what life is all about. If we have injured space, the earth, or heaven, or if we have offended mother or father that may Agni, fire of the house, forgive us and guide us safely to the world of goodness. …

Multiculturalism in America, Australia and India

Originally associated with the Left as academic reform and curriculum change, multiculturalism subsequently came to be accepted as study of the philosophy, literature and art of cultures. It got the status of official policy at all levels in the US and other democratic countries. It has been successful in the three democracies, America, Australia and India. India, as the most ancient of the three multicultural societies, has several cultures merging over the centuries, new cultures evolving, and several others co-existing today. There is a Hindu majority despite foreign incursions, Hinduism being the most tolerant religion that does not resort to conversions. America and Australia have Christian majority. The multiple ethnic groups in America and Australia are allowed to practise their individual religions. The occasional ethnic conflicts notwithstanding, the three multicultural societies are advancing as modern nations, interacting with each other.

Budaya Lokal dalam Perspektif Agama: Legitimasi Hukum Adat (‘Urf) Dalam Islam

Islam is a religion that has a universal characteristic, the worldview (Weltanschauung) of equality, justice, takaful, freedom and dignity as well as having a humanistic concept of theocentrism as core values of all the teachings of Islam. In terms of culture in society, Islam is letting local knowledge and local cultural products are productive and do not contaminate aqidah to exist, even putting traditional Islam as one of the basis for determining the law. As mentioned in one of the rules of jurisprudence thatsays "al-'adah al-muhakkamah" (customary law can be used as a benchmark). Thus Islam is a religion of tolerance and full of moral values.

The Jewish Critique of Christianity: In Search of a New Narrative

The old narrative of the Jewish critique of Christianity was simple: Jews criticized Christianity as a reaction to the Christian mission to the Jews; if Christians had not attempted to convince Jews to convert to Christianity, there would have been no reason for Jews to say anything negative about the majority religion. Judaism is a religion of tolerance, at least towards members of other religions, and, therefore, it was not a Jewish concern how Gentiles worshipped. But as medieval Christians tried more and more to convince Jews to convert, Jewish thinkers answered this challenge by developing arguments to be used against Christian doctrines.In light of recent research, this narrative, as comfortable as it might be to Jews, is no longer tenable. Jews criticized Christianity even in the absence of a Christian missionary threat, such as in Muslim countries. Furthermore, not all Christian anti-Jewish polemic should be understood as part of a conversionary campaign. Thus, there is a need for a new narrative to explain the proliferation of Jewish critiques of Christianity. This article discusses the various considerations at play in the search for that new narrative.

The Arts of Intimacy. Christians, Jews, and Muslims in the Making of Castilian Culture by Jerrilynn D. Dodds et al

BOOK REVIEWS / COMPTES RENDUS 235 Jerrilynn D. Dodds, María Rosa Menocal and Abigail Krasner Balbale, The Arts of Intimacy. Christians, Jews, and Muslims in the Making of Castilian Culture. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2008. The subject of The Arts of Intimacy, a lavishly illustrated volume co-authored by three specialists of the Arabic-Islamic culture of the Iberian Peninsula, is the role cultural elements often identified as Islamic or, to a lesser extent, Jewish have played in Castile during the Muslim presence in al-Andalus. The authors’ intention is to present a ‘different narrative of cultural history’ (p. 7) in which the ‘lost memory of Castile’ becomes obvious and hybridity is revealed as a norm even though it was at least historically ideologically inconvenient. The aim is also to make recent research in the field more accessible to a wider audience. The inter-cultural dimension of the history of the Iberian Peninsula has been the subject of numerous publications. More recently, scholars have examined the ways in which this dimension has been described and raised a number of important methodological questions. How do we write the cultural history of a region which is an embodiment of cultural diversity and complexity? How to disentangle the different threads, if this should be done in the first place? How do we describe interactions between groups of the society or societies of a region in which collective identities and the relationships between different groups are overlapping and in constant flux? How do we deal with layers of history, some of them more, others less fictitious, which were interpreted and reinterpreted by generations of historiographers, litterateurs, propagandists and historians? Unpretentious versions of the history of the Iberian Peninsula have simple stories to tell: according to one of them, the region was an underdeveloped backwater which the Muslim conquerors of the eighth century with their sophisticated systems of irrigation turned into a paradisiacal garden. Their tolerant religion and enlightened spirit allowed them to create a peaceful and intellectually productive multi-religious society, and its achievements had a lasting impact on Western thought. The dream came to an end when the Christian reconquistadores conquered al-Andalus, expelled the Jews and Muslims and the Inquisition ended all forms of creative intellectual activity. Within such a framework, an equally simple account of cultural exchanges can be presented in which clearly delimited cultural elements are passed on from one clearly defined culture to another. Most stories of exchanges which happen as the result of cultural encounters are much more multi-faceted and involve an interplay of translation, transformation, creative appropriation, influences, etc. But are we still talking about the same element of literature, philosophy or architecture when it appears in a different context? The situation becomes even more complex when these 236 BOOK REVIEWS / COMPTES RENDUS developments take place against the backdrop of tense political relationships where today’s strong man may be tomorrow’s weak one, and it becomes more complex still if we take into consideration that the major players in the region changed their priorities and identities over time and were connected to others outside the region whose political strategies and agendas were also evolving over time. As is obvious from their preface and their frequent emphasis on the dynamic nature of cultures, the authors of The Arts of Intimacy are fully aware of all these difficulties. Their response to them is to tell on the one hand exemplary stories of cultural ‘exchanges’, and on the other hand to contextualize them within the wider framework of the political history of Castile and, to a certain extent, Muslim Spain. The book is divided into a preface and introduction, seven main chapters and appendices. The first chapter introduces the history of the Iberian Peninsula from the Muslim conquests until the loss of Toledo with a special emphasis on coalitions transcending religious boundaries, as in the case of the Cid. In the second chapter, which discusses the urban splendour of Toledo, the authors present a whole kaleidoscope of 11th century marvels which the Castilians after 1085 were happy to make their own. Chapter 3 focuses on Christians under Muslim rule and how, because they had absorbed...

Islam and Tolerance: An Overview of Some Discourses on Tolerance and Intolerance of Islam

It should be pointed out that on the issue of Islam and Tolerance, there are countless works, papers and articles that have been written on it. However, what this paper intends to do is to simply highlight the trends of thought on the issue as may be relevant to its own discourse, and not to go into it in full details. In the light of this, the questions that this paper seeks to find answer to, are hat is the conception of tolerance in Islam? Does Islam as a religion emphasises tolerance? What are the precedents of Islam concerning the issue of tolerance and many more? On the issue of Islam as a religion of tolerance or intolerance, this paper identified two main trends of thought on Islam from discourses, namely Islam is religion of tolerance and of intolerance. Another trend of thought is reconciliation between the two opposite views the basis that Islam as religion is in line with tolerance in theory and practice. It was also found that the issue of intolerance was not limited to the Islamic religion alone, but it cut across all religions and civilisations and even in the present era. The problem of intolerance was revolved around the reader of a religious text who determines the kind of readings, meanings and interpretation that is given to the text.

Nigerian traditional religion: A religion of tolerance

Nigerian traditional religion: A religion of tolerance

Machiavelli, Hobbes, and Rousseau on Civil Religion

Book 4, chapter 8, of the Social Contract, on civil religion, presents a puzzle. According to Rousseau, no state has ever been founded that did not have religion as its base. But which religion? Christianity is not an option. Paganism is not an option. Monotheistic theocracy is not an option. What does that leave? By a process of elimination, we are left with an Enlightenment religion of tolerance and mutual forbearance, which even readers sympathetic to Rousseau (or perhaps especially readers sympathetic to Rousseau) might say is no religion at all. I argue that Machiavelli and Hobbes share Rousseau's fundamental concern, which is that the otherworldly aspirations of Christianity are subversive of political requirements, but each of them thinks he can solve the problem by “de-transcendentalizing” Christianity: Machiavelli, by treating the papacy as if it were a pagan institution; Hobbes, by reinterpreting the New Testament as if it were the Old Testament. The article examines why Rousseau rejects the Machiavellian and Hobbesian solutions to his problem, and why he has no solution of his own to offer.