Religion Archives | Reset DOC

India’s ruling Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) has repeatedly been accused by the opposition and civil society of pursuing divisive politics and promoting a sectarian agenda aimed at dismantling the country’s secular foundations to establish a majoritarian state. The recent incident involving the Kanwarias, pilgrims devoted to Lord Shiva, should be viewed in this context, rather than dismissed as trivial, as has been done with similar cases in the past. It once again highlights that the party and its leadership are focused on securing power by appealing to the majority community while sidelining minorities.

PublicationsReligion

This book confronts the key questions surrounding comparative secularism in historical perspective. The contributions critically consider the normative ideas and alternative political arrangements that govern religion’s relation to politics and to the public and private spheres. Containing contributions by world-renowned scholars such as Michael Walzer, Asma Afsaruddin and Sudipta Kaviraj, this book recounts the arguments, debates, and disputations regarding secular arguments for accommodating religion. With the addition of many non-Western experiences and viewpoints on how secularism is theorized and lived, politically and historically and from Europe and Asia to Africa and the Americas, this volume is of great value political philosophers across the globe.

Our Initiatives Religion

The project “Theologies and practices of religious pluralism” investigates current debates and issues on pluralism within and across religious traditions and how some of these debates are reshaping the status of religion in different public spaces. These adaptations have a profound impact on international relations and daily life in every society, across cultural, ethnic, racial divides. This project is jointly promoted by Reset DOC (Italy), Reset Dialogues (US) the University of Birmingham (UK), the Berkeley Center at Georgetown University (US), the Foundation for Religious Sciences in Bologna and Palermo (Italy) and the Haifa Laboratory for Religious Studies (Israel).

The international association Reset Dialogues on Civilizations has launched the Reset Seminars of Pluralism in the Middle East and North Africa, a yearly international program on cultural and religious pluralism and political liberties. The purpose is to promote a local intellectual response to the rise of rigorist strands of Islamic thought by training 40 emerging opinion-leaders on the relationship between religion, history and power and to contribute to the reawakening of pluralistic traditions in Muslim contexts.

Videos Religion

How did religion shift from fueling division to fostering dialogue in post-war Bosnia-Herzegovina? Reset DOC’s upcoming documentary explores the pivotal role of faith in reconciliation and peacebuilding. Catch the trailer now and stay tuned for the full release!

ConveningReligion

October

2024

Boston College

The Clough Center for Constitutional Democracy at Boston College is screening, for the first time, two short documentaries by Reset DOC on the role of religion in reconciliation and peacebuilding. 1. Religion and Reconciliation in Bosnia-Herzegovina and hte Balkans and 2. The Case of the Russia-Ukraine Conflict and the Role of the Orthodox Church. Directed by Filippo Macelloni, these timely 25-minute films analyze the role of religion in peace-making efforts in the context of the wars in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Ukraine-Russia. Historical background and expert interviews are interwoven in an informative and engaging viewing experience.

September

2024

Auditorium of San Giorgio al Palazzo, Piazza San Giorgio, 2

On the occasion of the final meeting of the Islam Working Group, authorities and representatives from different religious communities in Milan will gather for a round table to share local experiences of dialogue among people from different religious traditions within the shared urban landscape. These practices, whether on a personal or institutional level, will introduce listeners to the lively interreligious panorama of the city.

May

2024

Rome

The round table will present the preliminary research of the working group on Catholicism and Pluralism as a component of the comparative project on the theologies and practices of religious pluralism within the Abrahamic traditions. Since Vatican II, the Catholic Church has opened itself to a sincere dialogue with other religious traditions in the universal search for truth and for the common good. The round table will discuss how the V-Theo project will showcase the Catholic Church’s positioning in a global context and how interfaith and intrafaith discourse are central to the Catholic mission.