As religious violence flares around the world; we are confronted with an acute dilemma: Can people coexist in peace when their basic beliefs are irreconcilable? Benjamin Kaplan responds by taking us back to early modern Europe; when the issue of religious toleration was no less pressing than it is today.Divided by Faith begins in the wake of the Protestant Reformation; when the unity of western Christendom was shattered; and takes us on a panoramic tour of Europe's religious landscape--and its deep fault lines--over the next three centuries. Kaplan's grand canvas reveals the patterns of conflict and toleration among Christians; Jews; and Muslims across the continent; from the British Isles to Poland. It lays bare the complex realities of day-to-day interactions and calls into question the received wisdom that toleration underwent an evolutionary rise as Europe grew more "enlightened." We are given vivid examples of the improvised arrangements that made peaceful coexistence possible; and shown how common folk contributed to toleration as significantly as did intellectuals and rulers. Bloodshed was prevented not by the high ideals of tolerance and individual rights upheld today; but by the pragmatism; charity; and social ties that continued to bind people divided by faith.Divided by Faith is both history from the bottom up and a much-needed challenge to our belief in the triumph of reason over faith. This compelling story reveals that toleration has taken many guises in the past and suggests that it may well do the same in the future.
#2156088 in Books Belknap Press 2007-05-15 2007-06-14Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.44 x 1.27 x 6.38l; 1.61 #File Name: 0674024826432 pages
Review
2 of 7 people found the following review helpful. A Tryst With DestinyBy Etienne RPAt the stroke of midnight on August 14-15; 1947; Jawaharlal Nehru delivered the nation's independence speech that is as well-known among Indians as the Gettysburg Address is among Americans. Beginning with the famous opening: "Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny"; he went on to declare: "It is fitting that at this solemn moment we take the pledge of dedication to the service of India and her people and to the still larger cause of humanity."It is indeed rare for a nation to choose as national symbols expressions of the idea that humanity is above nationality; and righteousness above aggression. Those are however the values proclaimed in the "tryst with destiny" speech as well as in the national anthem composed by the famous poet and Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore. In the same vein; Nehru stated that the national flag was a symbol of freedom not only for India; but for all peoples of the world. Like only a few other nations; India has based its nationhood on the political rather than the ethnic; cultural or territorial conception of national unity. What bring Indians together are principles and aspirations rather than land; tradition; and blood. This is why India stands as a beacon of hope and inspiration for all world citizens committed to democracy and human well-being.According to Martha Nussbaum; this tradition of openness and universalism is now under attack. Drawing its inspiration from fascist movements in pre-war Europe; the Hindu right wants to revive notions of purity; manliness; and aggression; especially against the Muslim minority that is seen as foreign to the Hindu soil and menacing the vital interests of the nation. Nussbaum sees "a clash between two different conceptions of the Indian nation and two sorts of Indian patriots. One sort sees India as a pluralistic nation; built on ideas of respect for different regional; ethnic; and religious traditions; and united by a commitment to democratic and egalitarian norms. The other sort believes that this morally grounded unity is too fragile; that only the unity of ethnic homogeneity can really make a strong nation." In the end; this is a clash that occurs within each individual; as "the violent and dominating parts contend against the parts that are willing to live with human powerlessness and incompleteness."As she herself confesses; Martha Nussbaum has her "own slant on events." She uses the words "ethnic cleansing" and "genocide" to characterize the wave of communal violence that took place in Gujarat in March 2002; where the state government and law enforcement officers condoned the maiming and killings of Moslems. She describes the branches of the RSS; an Hindi youth organization; as proto-fascist organizations. But apart from some slippages her book is not intensely polemical. She draws her analyses from trusted sources and scholarly work; like Christophe Jaffrelot's The Hindu Nationalist Movement in India; as well as testimonies from human rights activists and personal contacts with various political actors.I think the most interesting part of the book is when the author applies her own scholarly work to practical issues of Indian democracy. As a proponent of a rights-based approach to development; she praises the way the Indian Constitution makes explicit the fundamental rights of citizens and their equality. Indeed; religious freedom and equality receive more detailed attention and protection in the Indian Constitution than they do in any other constitution known to the author; and this may explain why India's democracy has proven so resilient. The system also preserves the creative potential of federalism; with states acting as laboratories of social experiments; while setting thresholds beneath which they may not fall. More generally; the combination of local self-rule and state control makes it possible to see clearly which development policies work and which do not. In this way; Indian democracy has enormous epistemic value for social scientists that grapple with issues of institutional design.Nussbaum is also interested in the way shame and disgust shape our human emotions and can motivate feelings of hatred against targeted groups. Shame and revulsion at the signs of one's bodily humanity have often been invoked in analyzing group violence; and the author mixes insights from her previous work with culturally specific factors to account for the horrifying cases of sexual violence that took place in Gujarat. More generally; she shows how images of masculinity and bodily comportment influenced the worldviews of great leaders of India's past. As she notes; "Gandhi linked the future of India to a suppression of bodily desire; Tagore linked it to an embrace of the sensuous delight of the body-not to undisciplined sensuality; but to the ordered sensuousness of dance."Tagore is indeed the personal hero of the author; who places him above Gandhi and Nehru in her pantheon of Indian great men. Like Walt Whitman in America; he created a "public poetry" of nationhood that captures the imagination and exalts moral sentiments. He also founded a school in West Bengal based on critical thinking; creativity; and the empowerment of women through the arts. In line with her defense of liberal education in America; the author underscores that education nourishes the capacity to think for oneself and to become a dynamic participant in cultural and political choice rather than simply a follower of tradition. She therefore deplores the emphasis on rote learning; teaching to the test and the neglect of liberal arts that characterize the Indian education system. Emotions and the imagination are parts of a democratic public culture; and the liberal state needs public poetry; not just scientific rationality; to sustain itself.1 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Two StarsBy Logan Suttona decent analysis. wouldn't have read it if i didn't have to of course.3 of 5 people found the following review helpful. Dishonest and biasedBy CustomerThis book is a favorite among Indian (and Western) Hindu-haters who believe that the stature alone of an academic proves that he/she is truthful. Although flawed; inaccurate and biased in many ways; it is still being cited by anti-Hindus. For example; she claims that Muslims imported tolerance into India and when writing about the Godhra train burning attack (where a mob of Muslims stopped and attacked a train full of Hindu pilgrims returning from the disputed site at Ayodhya; and set it on fire; hindering the Hindus to escape - women and children burned to death); Nussbaum believes the conspiracy theory that the Hindus set their own train compartment on fire.This book is not neutral; even a scholar like G.J. Larson (who has himself critcized the Hindu right) criticized her for being more interested in mounting a political assault on what she calls the "Hindu right"; and that her analysis lacks balance; nuance and civility (review in Journal of American Academy of Religion). Her view on the Stoics and Aristotle (which she uses in some of her arguments) have also been criticized. She also defends Doniger and others for their use of psychoanalysis when analyzing Hinduism; which has rightly been criticized as inappropriate for the study of Hinduism and largely pseudoscientific. While very criticial of Hinduism and especially political Hinduism; she is an apologist for Islam and for the record of Islam in India. Read the reviews by Gerald Larson and Jason Kirk (" Hindu Nationalism Five Years after Godhra; ").I have to give Nussbaum credit for interviewing a number of Hindu nationalists (Arun Shourie and others); and therefore listening to what they actualy say and believe; and not just on hearsay. In any other field this would be natural and expected ; but in the field of studies on Hindu nationalism; this is the exception. For this reason I give the book two stars.Instead of this book; I recommend the works of Koenraad Elst; Arun Shourie; Sita Ram Goel; Harsh Narain and Ram Swarup.
