This collection of essays questions the capacity of Canadian democracy to promote religious pluralism and recognize disparate faith groups as legitimate players on the political stage. These are more than rhetorical questions, as issues and public policies in contemporary Canada reflect an increasing concern that religion and religious belief ought not to intrude in political debate and matters of governance. Despite playing an active role in Canadian politics in the past, religious faith now risks relegation to the private sector. Efforts to push religious belief outside the public square set a dangerous precedent, provide rationale for further exclusion rather than inclusion, and logically culminate in monism rather than pluralism. Faith in Democracy focuses on contemporary challenges to religious pluralism in Canada with attention to the changing religious landscape throughout the country. These challenges are both old and new. They include such tasks as reconciling universal and particular perspectives of liberalism in law and recognizing the limits of secularism as an emergent dominant faith. How Canada responds to these challenges will not only influence public policy, but also test its commitment to democracy.

Religion is usually thought of as inconsequential to contemporary Canadian politics. Religion and Canadian Party Politics takes a hard look at just how much influence faith continues to have in federal, provincial, and territorial political arenas. Drawing on case studies from across the country, this book explores three important axes of religiously based contention in Canada. Early on, there were the denominational distinctions between Catholics and Protestants that shaped party oppositions. Since the 1960s, a newly politicized divide opened between religious conservatives and political reformers. Then from the 1990s on, sporadic controversy has centred on the recognition of non-Christian religious minority rights. Although the extent of partisan engagement with each of these sources of conflict has varied across time and region, this book shows that religion still matters in shaping party politics . This detailed look at the play of religiously based conflict and accommodation in Canada fills a large gap and pulls us back from overly simplified comparisons with the United States. More broadly, this book also compares the role of faith in politics in Canada to that of other Western industrialized societies.

Examines the balance between politics and religion.

Religion is usually thought of as inconsequential to contemporary Canadian politics. This book takes a hard look at just how much influence faith continues to have in federal, provincial, and territorial arenas. Drawing on case studies from across the country, it explores three important axes of religiously based contention – Protestant vs. Catholic, conservative vs. reformer, and, more recently, opponents vs. defenders of accommodating minority religious practices. Although the extent of partisan engagement with each of these sources of conflict has varied across time and region, the authors show that religion still matters in shaping political oppositions. These themes are illuminated by comparisons to the role faith plays in the politics of other Western industrialized societies.

What is the place of faith in public life in the UK? Beyond ‘secularism’ that seeks to relegate faith to the margins of public life, and a ‘Christian nation’ position that seeks to retain, or even regain, Christian public privilege, there is a third way. Faith in Democracy: Framing a Politics of Deep Diversity calls for an approach that maximises public space for the expression of faith-based visions within democratic fora while repudiating all traces of religious privilege. It argues for a truly conversational space, reflecting theologically on the contested concepts at the heart of the current debate about the place of faith in British public life: democracy, secularism, pluralism and public faith.

Explores the relationship between religion and liberal democracy and the roles religion can play in modern democratic orders.

Religion and Representation: Islam and Democracy brings together a series of reflections, studies and observations that examine the complex relationship between political representation and Islam. Through the perspectives of theology, history, sociology, philosophy and political science, contributions to this volume explore the connections between religious beliefs, religiosity, political ideals and political behaviour. Grounded in the experience of both Muslim-majority and Muslim-minority states, the chapters represent a broad cross-section of approaches that emerge from a process of exchange and dialogue, which began with a three-day conference in London, Canada in March 2012. Beyond demonstrating how Islam and democracy are compatible, the authors in this volume employ theological reasoning, theoretical insight, logical argumentation and empirical data to explore in detail the points of connection. Contributions encompass a broad spectrum of interpretations of Islam, as well as consideration of critical and compelling issues and controversies across a range of contemporary settings.