One Nation, Many Faiths: Religious Pluralism and National Identity in a Scottish Interfaith Organisation

(Hardback)

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This book examines the understudied role of the interfaith movement in institutionalizing religious pluralism in the public life of contemporary societies through the case study of Interfaith Scotland. It analyzes the organization and their literature, demonstrating the ways in which they have cultivated a particular model of religious pluralism compatible with a secular civic-cultural nationalism. It places this case into a comparative discussion of the interfaith movement as an emerging global phenomenon. In this case study, the author considers how Interfaith Scotland presents religions as equivalent, compatible bodies of ethical teachings through selective appeals to textual traditions or in some cases, their construction. It has also depended on conforming to the world religions paradigm, where it is only religions with global reach and cohesive characteristics which require representation. Liam Sutherland discusses how Interfaith Scotland encouraged a common, seemingly apolitical attachment to Scotlands democratic institutions and cultural heritage, especially in relation to the question of independence. This case study sheds light on the wider relationship between the global interfaith movement and nationalism both in protecting religions against prejudice and exclusion but also pursuing integrationist goals.

Author Bio

Liam T. Sutherland is an independent scholar, Scotland, UK.