From Liberal Containment to Pluralistic Engagement: Religious Pluralism, Solidarity, and the Public Life of Canadian Democracy

Abstract If, following Hannah Arendt, we understand Canada’s public sphere as constituted by the basic human condition of plurality, then our public sphere must do more than follow the liberal strategy of containing potentially fractious religious differences. What might a more robust recognition of religious voices in Canada’s public sphere look like, especially considering the destructive historic role that Canada’s mainline Christian churches played in supporting Canada’s genocidal policy of cultural assimilation of Indigenous peoples? How might Canada’s religious voices become more publicly salient while also supporting the basic human condition of plurality?