Manual for dealing with religious diversity published
There is need for more awareness say research findings of comparing case studies from the fields of nursing, administration, education, and various other societal areas.
The diversity of religious and non-religious worldview shapes our society. But when people with different faiths and beliefs live together, various challenges may emerge that need to be addressed and dealt with in daily life. A manual that was assembled in the first funding phase of the NRW graduate college “Regulating Religious Plurality in the Region” (RePliR) offers different case staudies, analysis, and practical suggestions. The publications is being edited by Sarah Jahn and Judith Stander-Dulitsch – two of the former college's coordinators – and is being published by Wochenschau-Verlag in cooperation with the Centre for Civic Education of the state of North-Rhine-Westphalia.
The graduate college is a joint project between the Center for Religious Studies (CERES) at RUB and the Center for Religion and Modernity at the University of Münster.
More awareness needed
Some of the questions covered in the manual include: How are hospitals and nursing home dealing with the diverse religious and cultural beliefs of their patients? How much room for action do bodies of public administrations have to take the different religious traditions and worldview of the people into consideration without violating the principle of state neutrality? How are teachers dealing with the religious diversity of their pupils?
These questions and other case studies from the fields of nursing, politics, and public administration as well as education, media, working spaces and the civil society are being examined by the authors. “Looking at the gathered examples from North-Rhine-Westphalia, it becomes obviously apparent that in many areas there is a need for raining more awareness to overcome occurring challenges”, say the editors Sarah Jahn and Judith Stander-Dulitsch.
The manual puts together the central research findings of the graduate college for the different fields of praxis. Thus, both editors emphasize, this publication is most suitable for seeing beyond one’s own nose. Case studies from different societal areas are the fundament for this. “With more general articles that provide an overview, we want to invite the readers to also look at interactions with religious diversity in other areas in order to initiate a learning processes”, the editors explain.
Publication (only in German)
Sarah J. Jahn, Judith Stander-Dulisch (editors): Vielfalt der Religionen. Ein Praxishandbuch zur Regulierung von religiöser Pluralität in Nordrhein-Westfalen. Wochenschau-Verlag, Frankfurt/Main, 2021, 352 pages, ISBN 9783734411526