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Religious Pluralism in Democratic Societies: Challenges and Prospects for Southeast Asia, Europe, and the United States in the New Millennium.

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Religious Pluralism in Democratic Societies: Challenges and Prospects for Southeast Asia, Europe, and the United States in the New Millennium. Edited by K.S. Nathan. Singapore and Kuala Lumpur: Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung and Malaysian Association for American Studies, 2007. Softcover: 315pp.

In a globalizing world, linked in so many ways by economic, political, and security concerns, it is important to recognize the local impact of the global and the global impact of the local. This is a sufficient justification to focus on the promises and challenges of religious pluralism, which has implications for the democratic governance of multi-religious societies. Peaceful democracy depends on people's willingness to cooperate with one another, which in the final analysis depends on a shared sense of community.

The 20th century bears witness to the fact of people doing unspeakable things to those for whom they lack community feeling. This is especially true of people who see themselves threatened by: outsiders, economic forces, or things they do not understand. Thus, conflict wracks Sri Lanka, Rwanda, and the former Yugoslavia. Both Sri Lanka and Rwanda were once peaceful, even progressive, but now they are aflame. Former Yugoslavia has seen four wars or quasi-wars in eight years: Croats against Serbs (twice), both against Bosnians, and now Serbs against Albanians. Whatever their causes, they have eradicated pan-Yugoslav society and set its inhabitants at odds along ethno-religious lines. India and Northern Ireland continue to suffer religious strife, while many of the various former Soviet Republics have split ethnically. Simultaneously, there is a growth of religious fundamentalism in several...