Countering exclusivism, promoting Inclusivism: The way forward for Singapore

• Main Authors: KONG, Lily, WOODS, Orlando, ABDUL WAHID, Acmal Zuheyr Iefan
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2020
• Subjects: Asian Studies; Religion
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/3250; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soss_research/article/4507/viewcontent/IRR_Issue_19_August_2020.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

This paper addresses the situation in Singapore, where a state of religious harmony has prevailed over the past few decades, though evidencing skirmishes and tensions periodically. These skirmishes are a consequence of exclusivist attitudes held by those with religion and those without religion. While some of the strategies that have been in place to address such exclusivist behaviours have been largely effective, the extent to which they have been successful in addressing, more fundamentally, exclusivist attitudes and beliefs is more questionable. Three key dialectics that operate in everyday interreligious encounter are identified to be consequential in countering exclusivism and promoting inclusivism. The first is the dialectic between ideology and praxis; the second is between enhancing interreligious interactions and interreligious understanding; and the third is between emphasising the personal and private in religion, and the communal and public.