Pluralism
Pluralism is an excellent mixture of different cultures where each culture retains its own identity and yet adds to the flavour of the whole. It is a form of society in which minorities maintain their independent cultural traditions without any restrictions. It contains a diverse group of religious cultures and traditions. Pluralism typically contains four components, which at the most superficial level are diversity, tolerance, commitment and communication.
Diversity:
Pluralistic societies contain many different religious groups. Getting people in those religious groups to tolerate each other requires building relationships and engaging in interactions. Today, religious diversity is a given, but pluralism is not a given; it is an achievement. Mere diversity without real encounters and relationships will yield increasing tensions in our societies.
Tolerance:
Pluralism also requires society’s members to tolerate and understand those with different beliefs, which involves education about the various religions. Tolerance is too thin a foundation for a world of religious difference and proximity. It does nothing to remove our ignorance of one another and leaves in place the stereotype, the half-truth, and the fears that underlie old patterns of division and violence. In the world in which we live today, our ignorance of one another will be increasingly costly.
Commitment:
A pluralistic society needs a high degree of tolerance among society members to keep the peace and reduce preconceived notions and stereotypes. The new paradigm of pluralism does not require us to leave our identities and our commitments behind, for pluralism is the encounter of commitments. It means holding our deepest differences, even our religious differences, not in isolation but in relationship to one another.
Communication:
Pluralistic societies require open communication, with all members participating as listeners and speakers. The language of pluralism is that of dialogue and encounter, give and take, criticism and self-criticism. Dialogue means both speaking and listening, and that process reveals both common understandings and real differences. Dialogue does not mean everyone at the “table” will agree with one another. Pluralism involves the commitment to being at the table — with one’s commitments.
India, at present, is facing many problems. The biggest of these is the problem of communalism and terrorism. In fact, it is the biggest threat to humanity and to the unity and integrity of the country. We must also clearly understand that it is not the ‘cultural integration’ we are looking for. Cultural variations or pluralism will continue to exist and in no event should these be suppressed; nothing can be more dangerous for the well-being of the country. For cultivating democratic values, particular emphasis has to be laid on the development of qualities such as a scientific temper of mind, tolerance, respect for the culture of other religions and regional groups, etc. These will enable us to adopt democracy not only as a form of government but also as a way of life.
Challenges to pluralism
It is possible for pluralism to face problems brought on by structural power inequalities as well as structured social marginalisation. How can there be complete democracy in a society that essentially prevents some groups, either because of their gender or because they are unable to buy education?
You may very quickly discover, based on your own experiences, that certain groups have been excluded from educational opportunities and cultural activities throughout their infancy. You need to assist them in overcoming the effects of long-term isolation in order to successfully integrate them into a pluralist society.
How can there be true democracy when certain groups are so powerful that they are able to reject the will of the people who cast their votes?
How Pluralism Differentiates from Diversity
A pluralistic society is one in which people from various ethnic, racial, religious, or social groups continue to participate independently in and develop their traditional cultures or areas of expertise while remaining within the bounds of a single civilization. Such differences are involved with and welcomed by pluralism. If anything is pluralistic, it might also be diverse, but until and unless the variety is embraced and accepted, it doesn’t necessarily imply that something is pluralistic. People in India coexist in love and fraternity despite having distinct cultures, religions and languages. India is pluralistic because of its great unity in diversity.
Pluralism is a reaction to a variety that entails understanding the significant distinctions between many cultures and identities, interacting with those identities in settings that permit free discussion, and upholding various religious beliefs.
Often the terms “pluralism” and “diversity” are used interchangeably, but diversity—while magnificent, colourful, and perhaps dangerous—is not pluralism. The participation that unites all of that diversity into a single society is pluralism. For instance, the majority of Muslims claim that adherents of the Hindu or Sikh faith are extremely different from Muslims, and the majority of Hindus and Sikhs believe that they are very distinct from Muslims. With rare exceptions, the majority of India’s religious faiths see more differences than commonalities among their congregations. Although there is diversity here, there may not be pluralism because there is no interaction or relationship between the various groups.
One possible response to this growing diversity is pluralism. Diversity may make some people feel frightened or even aggressive. Others might anticipate the day when all distinctions disappear into the backdrop of a society that is predominately Hindu. Creating a viable pluralism will need to involve individuals of other religions and cultures in the development of a shared community, according to those who welcome the new diversity. Pluralism is not a given; instead, it is a success.
As Indians, some don’t know much about religions other than their own. While many Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists say they know at least something about the Hindu religion, fewer Hindus claim any knowledge about India’s minority religions – even those, like Jainism or Sikhism, with some theological similarities to Hinduism.
So, the religiously varied population of India is made up of various communities that are not very familiar with one another’s beliefs and practices and who do not see many points of commonality. Nonetheless, many Indians view their views with a pluralistic rather than an exclusivist approach. In general, and among most of India’s major religious groupings, adults are more likely to believe that “several religions can be true” than theirs is “the one true religion.”
Many Indians follow a variety of religions. For instance, a sizeable number of Muslims, particularly in some areas of the nation, claim to observe the Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, and Jains-predominant holidays of Diwali and Holi. While some Hindus celebrate Christmas, many Christians claim to also celebrate Diwali and Holi. In addition, several members of India’s religious minorities claim to have offered prayers, done rituals or meditated at Hindu temples. In the North, one in five Hindus claim to have visited a Gurdwara (a Sikh place of worship), and some Hindus in the South claim to have prayed in a Church.
As in every epoch, India is assimilating “We, the Indian people” in its current form. What does “we” mean in a country with multiple religions? How do Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Christians, and Jains relate to one another as “we”? Pluralism: What precisely is it?
Diversity is not only a fact; pluralism is active engagement with that variety. One can be a diversity observer. One can be critical of it or threatened by it. But real pluralism requires involvement and interaction. Diversity has historically been associated with isolation, with many religions and subcultures forming virtual ghettos with minimal interaction between them. But the dynamic of pluralism is one of encounter, interchange, and two-way movement.
Pluralism necessitates knowledge of differences; it goes beyond simple tolerance of them. While tolerance is unquestionably necessary, it can be a trickier virtue on its own and even get in the way of engagement. We can harbour all the preconceptions and half-truths we want about our neighbours since tolerance does not necessitate that individuals know anything about one another. Although tolerance is crucial, it doesn’t really help us understand one another better. For a culture as diverse and complex in terms of religion as India, it is an inadequate foundation.
Unlike relativism, pluralism allows for genuine religious commitments of all kinds. Some people are sceptical of the terminology of pluralism, believing that by accepting that others believe differently, inadvertently weakens one’s own religious beliefs. Others erroneously believe that a pluralist viewpoint presupposes that there are no distinctions between diverse religious traditions and their values. But, in practice, a pluralist society is characterized by genuine commitments and genuine divisions. Reaching the “lowest common denominator” does not necessitate renunciation of the originality of one’s own tradition of faith. Commitments are not left at the door in the public square of a pluralist society; instead, they are welcomed within. Individuals of various faiths and those with no faith can participate in the development of civil society as themselves, with all of their peculiarities. The process of building a pluralistic society entails engaging in critical and self-critical dialogue with one another while recognizing rather than downplaying our fundamental differences.
Articles 25 and 26 of the Indian Constitution, which deal with the freedom of religion for both individuals and corporations, are a firm foundation for India’s pluralism. The vigorous interaction of a pluralistic society is not predicated on reaching a consensus on issues of conscience and faith but rather on establishing a connection of continual conversation and debate, which is far more significant. The shared dedication to a society built on the give and take of civil discourse at a common table is perhaps the most important common tie people of all faiths have.
Promoting pluralism necessitates fostering positive discussion in order to highlight shared perspectives and actual discrepancies. The process of open discussion will unavoidably highlight points of disagreement as well. Not everyone will agree with one another but the commitment to participate in pluralism entails sharing one’s beliefs. Finding these in Indian society and promoting an atmosphere that is open to dialogue is crucial for the development of civil society.
The problem, not diversity itself, is how pluralism and diversity are handled in Indian society. Problems like regionalism, communalism and ethnic strife have evolved as a result of an unfair distribution of the benefits of growth or an undervaluation of some groups’ cultures. As a result, the Constitution and its principles must be the cornerstone of our society. Any civilization that has made an effort to become homogeneous has eventually experienced stagnation and deterioration. The attempt by Pakistan to impose its culture on East Pakistan, which ultimately led to Bangladesh’s formation, is the most noteworthy example of this dilemma.
Post a Comment