One Nation, Many Faiths

This book examines the understudied role of the interfaith movement in institutionalising religious pluralism in the public life of contemporary societies through the case study of Interfaith Scotland. It analyses the organisation and their literature, demonstrating the ways in which they have cultivated a particular model of religious pluralism compatible with a secular civic-cultural nationalism. It places this case into a comparative discussion of the interfaith movement as an emerging global phenomenon.

In this case study, the author considers how Interfaith Scotland presents ‘religions’ as equivalent, compatible bodies of ethical teachings through selective appeals to textual traditions or, in some cases, their construction. It has also depended on conforming to the ‘world religions paradigm’, where it is only religions with global reach and cohesive characteristics which require representation.

Liam Sutherland discusses how Interfaith Scotland encouraged a common, seemingly ‘apolitical’ attachment to Scotland’s democratic institutions and cultural heritage, especially in relation to the question of independence. This case study sheds light on the wider relationship between the global interfaith movement and nationalism – both in protecting religions against prejudice and exclusion but also pursuing integrationist goals.