The essays in this volume advance new lines of inquiry in a growing conversation on the role of religion in public discourse by engaging ideas and experiences from the Bahá'í Faith. A central theme of the book is the need to discover modes of public discourse that can help humanity transition towards a more integrated global society.

Table of Contents

Introduction | Geoffrey Cameron and Benjamin Schewel

1 Religious Disruptions in an Age of Transition | Benjamin Schewel

2 Religion, Spiritual Principles, and Civil Society | David A. Palmer

3 Media and Public Discourse: In Search of Normative Foundations | Michael Karlberg

4 Education and Moral Empowerment: Raising Capacity for Participation in Public Discourse | Sona Farid-Arbab

5 An Inquiry into the Harmony of Science and Religion | Farzam Arbab

6 Bahá'í Participation in Public Discourse: Considerations Related to History, Concepts and Approach | Shahriar Razavi

7 Contributions to International Development Discourse: Exploring the Roles of Science and Religion | Matthew Weinberg

8 A New Politics of Engagement: The Bahá'í International Community, The United Nations and Gender Equality | Julia Berger

9 Rethinking Political Advocacy: The Bahá'í Refugee Resettlement Program (1981-89) | Geoffrey Cameron

Contributors

Farzam Arbab, San Diego, CA

Julia Berger, New York, NY

Geoffrey Cameron, Hamilton, ON

Sona Farid-Arbab, San Diego, CA

David A. Palmer, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Benjamin Schewel, University of Groningen, Netherlands

Matthew Weinberg, Bahá'í Internet Agency, California

Shahriar Razavi, Universal House of Justice, Haifa, Israel

Michael Karlberg, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA

Geoffrey Cameron is a PhD candidate and Trudeau Scholar at the University of Toronto. He has degrees from Trent and Oxford Universities, where he was a Commonwealth Scholar. He is the co-author of Exceptional People: How Migration Changed the World and Will Define Our Future (2012).
Benjamin Schewel is a Fellow in the Centre for Religion, Conflict and the Public Domain at the University of Groningen and an Affiliate Scholar at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture at the University of Virginia. He is the author of Seven Ways of Looking At Religion i(2017).