“We need to move beyond the binary of religious versus secular, public versus private, faith versus reason, and concentrate instead on working together for the good of our whole society.”
With those remarks, the Rev Dr Karen Hamilton, General Secretary of the Canadian Council of Churches, launched “Our Whole Society: Bridging the Religious-Secular Divide,” a conference hosted by The Laurier Institution at the University of British Columbia, from March 22-24, 2015. A national steering group representing organizations from a cross-section of Canadian civil society, including the Baha’i Community of Canada, planned the conference. Approximately 140 people participated.
Leading up to the conference, the Vancouver Sun and Calgary Herald published an editorial by Dr Hamilton and Geoffrey Cameron, Principal Researcher with the Baha’i Community of Canada, which explained the purpose of the conference: “We need a new and different way to talk about our common life,” they wrote. “If we could learn how to engage religious pluralism more substantially in our public discourse, we could improve civic participation and elevate our national conversation…. We need a sense of confidence as a society that diverse religious beliefs and practices (even those we don’t understand) can be welcomed into public discourse without threatening social cohesion.” The article says that the conference “aims to make a modest contribution to our vision of a more tolerant, respectful and inclusive public sphere in Canada.”
The conference program featured leading Canadian scholars, authors and civil society actors, who each examined different facets of the conference theme. “We invited speakers who are publicly engaged with the promotion of a better society in Canada, and the role of religion in that society,” Cameron said. He explained that the organizers view the gathering as part of an ongoing process of collective inquiry, which builds upon past gatherings and helps to frame questions for future discussion.
Rabbi Dr Lisa Grushcow, from Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom in Montreal, helped to open the conference by describing the many roles that religion continues to play in modern society, despite the expectations of secularization theory: “it responds to the search for meaning, it responds to the search for community, and it responds to the search for the common good,” she remarked.
Prof John Stackhouse, a theologian at Regent College, added that religions are increasingly under pressure in society because they are obstacles to consumerism. “Part of building a whole society is investing in ‘intermediate organizations’ between the individual and the state – such as religious groups and civil society.” The diversity of religions in Canada, however, requires every religion to re-examine its teachings to “excavate the grounds on which to live with others who are different.”
Several overarching themes framed the presentations and discussion at the conference: the proper role of religion in the public sphere, the merits and limits of secularism, the process of recognition and reconciliation with Aboriginal peoples, how to define the common good in the context of religious pluralism, the scope and limits of religious freedom, and the role of youth in society.
The conference featured plenary sessions with leading thinkers and actors in Canadian civil society, and workshops with practitioners sharing insights from their experience. Marie Wilson, a Commissioner with the Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission, challenged participants to see reconciliation with Aboriginal peoples as an ongoing, individual and collective process involving all the people of Canada. “Values are spiritual in nature and religions provide us with collective vocabularies for capturing these universal values,” she said. “We should learn to use them to inform our public policy.”
Many spoke about the benefits of secularism as an approach to governance that safeguards basic rights to religious liberty. However, taken too far, secularism can restrict the role of religious perspectives in public discourse. Prof Paul Bramadat, one of Canada’s leading scholars of religion, warned, “it is important to keep religious tools and concepts alive in public discourse and not lose their meaning through secular ‘translation’.” However, Alia Hogben, director of the Canadian Council of Muslim Women, noted that we need criteria to assess the role of religion in public life: “Does this religion contribute to the common good? Does it serve the well-being of all? If so, then it should be admitted into public discourse.”
The participation of dozens of youth and young adults in the conference helped to enrich its proceedings. The Inspirit Foundation sent a delegation of young leaders from across the country, one of whom was Eric Farr, a member of the Baha’i community. Speaking in a workshop, Farr said: “Many youth aspire for a vision of spiritual change – that is, a vision of a more unified and just society.” Christine Boyle, director of a youth non-profit, added that many social movements led by youth reflect a spiritual longing to create a better world through selfless service.
One of the keynote events was a conversation with Dr Andrew Bennett, Canada’s Ambassador for Religious Freedom. Bennett described the relationship between the defence of religious freedom and the promotion of human dignity, which are essential to define a common life together. “It is important for institutions in society to have the competence to engage with diverse religions,” he said. “Religious literacy informs peoples’ actions in society, and it is through open conversations with each other that we improve this literacy.”
The closing address of the conference was given by Douglas White, in a session titled “Recognizing our oneness: Reconciliation as the challenge of our time”. White is the Director of the Director of the Centre for Pre-Confederation Treaties and Reconciliation at Vancouver Island University and member and former Chief of Snuneymuxw First Nation. He decried the injustice and prejudice that afflict Canada’s relationship with its Aboriginal peoples, and stressed the role of the courts and political processes for rectifying some of these problems. However, “Pitting yourselves against each other is not a pathway to reconciliation… Lawsuits may be necessary but they are not sufficient for creating the future I want for my children.” White said, “We need an active and full discourse about the social change necessary to realize reconciliation in society. This can come either from great suffering or reaching out and seeking understanding between different people in society.” Reconciliation, he said, “demands a new mindset and orientation to ourselves, each other and with those around us. This is a spiritual, moral and ethical challenge for all Canadians.”
“We were very pleased with the quality of conversation at the conference, and the genuine excitement expressed at the ideas shared by other participants,” said Cameron. “This conference is a second milestone in what is now a four year-long collaboration among the organizers, and we are already looking ahead to the next iteration in 2017.”
For more information about the conference, including the program and concept paper, visit:www.ourwholesociety.ca
The Baha’i World News Service has also reported on this event:http://news.bahai.org/story/1048