In this past week I sought to compare and contrast the concept of “Freedom of Religion” and “Freedom from Religion.” The immediate spur was the current holiday season, but this theme has been a concern of mine for many years. I argued that “Freedom of Religion” must mean the population is free from any efforts by the state to establish an official religion, per the US Constitution; the state itself must be free from any popular pressure to make it establish a religion; and that each religion must be free from attack by any other religion.
Thanks Abe for your thoughtful update. The multicultural policy has it merits if it can be applied without the political mongering.
I am also thinking about "tolerance". How complicated that is. Maybe we opt for equality and compassion. There's a great book by Wendy Brown called, "Regulating Aversion: Tolerance in the Age of Identity and Empire" where she problematize the idea of tolerance:
"Tolerance is generally regarded as an unqualified achievement of the modern West. Emerging in early modern Europe to defuse violent religious conflict and reduce persecution, tolerance today is hailed as a key to decreasing conflict across a wide range of other dividing lines — cultural, racial, ethnic, and sexual. But, as political theorist Wendy Brown argues in Regulating Aversion, tolerance also has dark and troubling undercurrents."
Thanks Abe for your thoughtful update. The multicultural policy has it merits if it can be applied without the political mongering.
I am also thinking about "tolerance". How complicated that is. Maybe we opt for equality and compassion. There's a great book by Wendy Brown called, "Regulating Aversion: Tolerance in the Age of Identity and Empire" where she problematize the idea of tolerance:
"Tolerance is generally regarded as an unqualified achievement of the modern West. Emerging in early modern Europe to defuse violent religious conflict and reduce persecution, tolerance today is hailed as a key to decreasing conflict across a wide range of other dividing lines — cultural, racial, ethnic, and sexual. But, as political theorist Wendy Brown argues in Regulating Aversion, tolerance also has dark and troubling undercurrents."
https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691136219/regulating-aversion