Multiculturalism:  a Christian Retrieval

Is it possible for a society marked by deep ethnic and religious diversity to identify a workable framework for deep diversity which does justice to all communities?

What would “doing justice to diversity” actually amount to anyway? Would it mean “respecting” all cultures and religions? If so, what might “respect” practically require of us? Would it mean treating all cultural and religious perspectives “equally”, even those we think are false? And, whatever we think individually, who is to determine what counts as “false” in public policy? Further, what if falsehood implies (to us) not only erroneous beliefs – we could just ignore those – but also oppressive practices? Finally, where do those elusive “shared British values” fit in?

These are among the many questions evoked by the term “multiculturalism”. How well placed are British people to address them?
 

'Multiculturalism: a Christian Retrieval' is written by Jonathan Chaplin, Director the Kirby Laing Institute for Christian Ethics.  To read the report in full, click here. 

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