RELI 216 Chapter Notes - Chapter 12: Interfaith Dialogue, Religious Pluralism, Midrash
7 Apr 2017
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The complex phenomenon called modernity encompasses many issues: There have been the developments in science that have challenged traditional understandings of how the world came to be and how it functions and develops. Technology provides many tools that can alleviate hardship, suffering and disease, but that also change human relationships with the world and the divine. Globalization pressures religious cultures to adapt other values and beliefs. The struggles for equality for women challenges the subdued roles women have had in most religions. Modernity causes people today to feel largely disconnected to the past, its traditions and its values. Some call this a process of secularization in which human values and social institutions become detached from religious moorings. It(cid:495)s been part of the process of modernization. These challenges have to eventually be met as religions encounter modernity. They lose their natural confidence and become defensive. Sooner or later, they may go into mental siege and have to devise strategies of survival.
