Some often forget, despite our glorious heritage in spirituality, that faith is a matter of individual choice dictated by conscience and not subject to overt or covert state or social regulation. Some are failing to invest the institutions of democracy with functional efficacy and seem oblivious to public disenchantment with this trend. In sum, each of the core values of pluralism, democracy and secularism are perceived to be under siege and need to be rejuvenated.
There is a basic difficulty about our understanding of pluralism. It is a societal reality, not a creation of the state. One question however does arise: have we invested enough in strengthening and deepening the concept of pluralism so that it is embedded in our consciousness? Experience shows that:
Pluralism involves energetic engagement with diversity; Pluralism is not just tolerance but the active seeking of understanding across lines of difference; Pluralism is not relativism but the encounter of commitments, of holding our deepest differences not in isolation but in relationship to one another; Pluralism is based on dialogue, of speaking and listening in a process that reveals both common understanding and real differences. The proper pursuit of pluralism therefore necessitates a continuous inter-community, inter-faith and cross-cultural dialogue aimed at understanding and accommodating diversity.
