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Introduction—Some Issues in Religion and Diversity

Religion and diversity impinge on one another in a variety of ways. The two terms conjure the idea of religious diversity and the issues that arise, both for religious groups and for governments or other social institutions, when a variety of religious traditions or groups co-exist in the same time or the same space, especially where there have been or continue to be religious hegemonies. But other sorts of diversity may impact on religion. Diversities of ethnicity, language, sex, gender and geography, just to name a few, have wide-ranging implications for religious groups and religious practices. In recent years, sexual and gender diversity have been a particular challenge to some forms of religion, for example. What constitutes diversity is itself a matter for discussion. Although diversity might at first appear to be a neutral concept, it needs to be seen against several backdrops. In the context of official Canadian multiculturalism, for example, diversity is seen as a good to be achieved. But that good is itself interrogated in any number of ways. When questions are raised about immigration policy, it is diversity that is at issue because it is not just the numbers of immigrants but usually specific kinds of immigrants who are seen as problematic. The recognition of religion and diversity in the same orbit in Canada and around the globe presents policy makers, religious organizations and the public at large with a number of controversial issues and sites of contention. How do institutions negotiate religious diversity? How does diversity threaten or challenge certain manifestations of religion? What conflicts emerge in the process of religious identity construction? Why are gender and sexual diversity often such contentious issues in debates about religion? Why do some forms of religion assume that they do not have to account for diversity, religious and otherwise? What possible future directions might be conceptualized in the management of these sites of contention? And what strategies are currently overand under-used used in such management?