Living Traditions and Universal Conviviality

Prospects and Challenges for Peace in Multireligious Communities

Edited by Roland Faber and Santiago Slabodsky - Contributions by Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson; Dan Dombrowski; Brianne Donaldson; Jacob Erickson; Roland Faber; Meijun Fan; Catherine Keller; Ian Kluge; Jay McDaniel; C. Robert Mesle; Tokiyuki Nobuhara; Steve Odin; Santiago Slabodsky; Helene Slessarev-Jamir and Constance Wise

The World Parliament of Religions adopted the view that there will not be peace in this world without including peace among religions. Yet, even with the unified force of the world’s religions and wisdom traditions, this cannot be accomplished without justice among people. In one way or another, “unity” among religions, as based on justice and the will to accept the other’s religions and even irreligiosity as means of justice, will not prevail without an internal and external, spiritual, theological, philosophical and practical investigation into the very reasons for religious strife and fanaticism as well as the resources that people, cultures, religions and wisdom traditions might provide to disentangle them from the injustices of their host regimes, and to seek the “balance” that leads to a measure of universal fairness among the multiplicity of religious and non-religious expressions of humanity.
“Conviviality” expresses the depth and breadth of “living together,” which itself can be understood as a translation of a central term of Whitehead's philosophy and the process tradition—“concrescence” (growing together, becoming concrete)—as it is recently and increasingly used in different discourses to name the concrete community of difference of individuals, cultures, and religions in appreciation of the mutual inclusiveness of their lives.
This book seeks to bring together experts from different religious (and non-religious) traditions and spiritual persuasions to suggest ways in which the living wisdom traditions might contribute to, and transform themselves into, a universal conviviality among the people, cultures and religions of this world for a common future. It wishes to test the resources that we can contribute to this concurrent and urgent matter, aware of Whitehead's call for a radical transformation of power and violence in thought and action as, perhaps, the ultimate theory of conflict resolution.

Lexington Books

Pages: 284 • Trim: 6⅜ x 9½

978-1-4985-1335-7 • Hardback • March 2016 • $129.00 • (£99.00)

Subjects: Religion / Philosophy, Philosophy / Religious, Religion / Comparative Religion, Philosophy / Comparative Philosophy

Living Traditions and Universal Conviviality

Prospects and Challenges for Peace in Multireligious Communities

Hardback

Summary

The World Parliament of Religions adopted the view that there will not be peace in this world without including peace among religions. Yet, even with the unified force of the world’s religions and wisdom traditions, this cannot be accomplished without justice among people. In one way or another, “unity” among religions, as based on justice and the will to accept the other’s religions and even irreligiosity as means of justice, will not prevail without an internal and external, spiritual, theological, philosophical and practical investigation into the very reasons for religious strife and fanaticism as well as the resources that people, cultures, religions and wisdom traditions might provide to disentangle them from the injustices of their host regimes, and to seek the “balance” that leads to a measure of universal fairness among the multiplicity of religious and non-religious expressions of humanity.
“Conviviality” expresses the depth and breadth of “living together,” which itself can be understood as a translation of a central term of Whitehead's philosophy and the process tradition—“concrescence” (growing together, becoming concrete)—as it is recently and increasingly used in different discourses to name the concrete community of difference of individuals, cultures, and religions in appreciation of the mutual inclusiveness of their lives.
This book seeks to bring together experts from different religious (and non-religious) traditions and spiritual persuasions to suggest ways in which the living wisdom traditions might contribute to, and transform themselves into, a universal conviviality among the people, cultures and religions of this world for a common future. It wishes to test the resources that we can contribute to this concurrent and urgent matter, aware of Whitehead's call for a radical transformation of power and violence in thought and action as, perhaps, the ultimate theory of conflict resolution.

Details

Lexington Books

Pages: 284 • Trim: 6⅜ x 9½

978-1-4985-1335-7 • Hardback • March 2016 • $129.00 • (£99.00)

Subjects: Religion / Philosophy, Philosophy / Religious, Religion / Comparative Religion, Philosophy / Comparative Philosophy

Author

Roland Faber is Kilsby Family/John B. Cobb, Jr. professor of process studies at Claremont School of Theology, professor of religion and philosophy at Claremont Graduate University, executive codirector of the Center for Process Studies, and founder and executive director of the Whitehead Research Project.

Santiago Slabodsky is Florence and Robert Kaufman chair in Jewish studies and assistant professor of religion at Hofstra University–New York.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Conviviality in Multi-Religious Communities: Peace, Justice, Unity, and Diversities, Roland Faber and Santiago Slabodsky

Part I: Multi-Religious Conversations
1. Conviviality: Particular Religions, Universalist Fellowship—Some Jewish Reflections, Bradley Shavit Artson
2. From Violence to Tolerance: Kazi Nazrul Islam’s Relevance to Discussions on Conviviality in the Muslim Tradition, Mustafa Ruzgar
3. From Tolerance to Unity: the Baha’i Faith and Conviviality, Ian Kluge
4. How Wicca Contributes to Religious Conviviality, Constance Wise
5. Conviviality with Dao: A Chinese Perspective, Meijun Fan

Part II: Political Challenges and Opportunities
6. Religions’ Contribution to the Affirmation of Life and Political Agency, Helene Slessarev-Jamir
7. Political Liberalism, Conviviality, and Process Thought, Daniel A. Dombrowski
8. The Fires of Desire: Finding Conviviality in a Common Challenge, C. Robert Mesle
9. The Unspeakable Conviviality of Becoming, Catherine Keller

Part III: Ecologies of Multi-Religious Futures
10. “Must ‘religion’ always remain as a synonym for ‘hatred’?” Whiteheadian Meditations on the Future of Togetherness, Roland Faber
11. Tools for Religious Conviviality: Ivan Illich, Process Thought, and Political Ecology on a Multireligious Planet, Jacob Erickson
12. The Problem of the Two Ultimates and the Proposal of an Ecozoics of the Deity: In Dialogue with Thomas Berry, Sallie McFague, Anselm, Aquinas, Whitehead, and Nishida, Toki Nobuhara
13. Architectures of Risk, The Convivial Occasion of Experiential Religious Naturalism in Tagore and Whitehead, Brianne Donaldson
14. Whiteheadian Perspective-Taking as a Basis for ‘Peace’ through Interfaith Dialogue: With Special Reference to Confucianism & Japanese Buddhism, Steve Odin

Epilogue: Planetarity and Conviviality, Jay McDaniel

Reviews

This volume asks what Whitehead’s process philosophy can offer to a planet in the midst of continual religious and political rupture. Each essay carefully grapples with the prospect of balancing justice and peace without resorting to stifling assimilation or alienating the other. The result is a compelling collection that imagines interreligious harmony not as a naïve utopia of sameness, but as a continual unfolding of events in which differences—both complementary and destructive—are ingredients.
— J. R. Hustwit, Methodist University