ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with a brief discussion of religious pluralism. Sometimes "pluralism" is used to refer to the entirely uncontroversial fact of religious diversity–the fact that there are many different religions. "Pluralism" is also frequently used to refer to the very controversial proposal that there is parity of a certain sort among various religions. As even the most casual inquiry will reveal, the term "pluralism" is used in a bewildering variety of ways. Setting out to consider whether pluralism is evil or problematic in any way, or why anyone might think it to be evil or problematic, without first explaining what meant by "pluralism" is itself likely to promote bewilderment. Pluralism is sometimes characterized as combining one or more parity claims with certain other elements, such as a certain attitude to other religions. John Esposito also understands pluralism to be in part a matter of attitude, though he has in mind a somewhat different set of attitudes.
