Assertive Religion

-This fascinating, innovative work is read in one sitting. It challenges the reader's ideas: not only by giving a very solid analysis of the essentials of fundamentalism in our major religions and their position towards the state. It also analyses the core dilemmas of multiculturalism. And last but not least: despite de Kadt's obvious scepticism with regard to the univeralist pretention of human rights, many conclusions, like the plea for civil and political freedoms and the reduction of exclusion belong to the very core of the human rights debate. This debate demands an interdisciplinary approach, to prevent the doctrine of human rights to become fundamentalist in itself. The book leaves the reader with these confusing views, and is challenged to reconsider the easier ones that simplify the multiculturalism discourse. Food for thought, both for academics of different disciplines and for politicians.-

--Jenny E. Goldschmidt, director of the Netherlands Institute of Human Rights (SIM), Utrecht University

-This is a book that should be read by anyone interested in or concerned about the challenges that face religious pluralism in contemporary societies. Emanuel de Kadt warns against a widespread tendency to focus on the extremism of terrorists which he considers to be a distraction from the far more insidious fundamentalisms found within the Abrahamic traditions, which assert their authority to impose pre-Enlightenment social and ethical imperatives on the grounds of unquestionable and unquestioning beliefs that they, and they alone, know God's will. Professor de Kadt does not mince words, but his is a judiciously nuanced and scholarly argument. Assertive Religion is informative, provocative and eminently readable.-

--Eileen Barker, Professor Emeritus of Sociology of Religion, London School of Economics

"This fascinating, innovative work is read in one sitting. It challenges the reader's ideas: not only by giving a very solid analysis of the essentials of fundamentalism in our major religions and their position towards the state. It also analyses the core dilemmas of multiculturalism. And last but not least: despite de Kadt's obvious scepticism with regard to the univeralist pretention of human rights, many conclusions, like the plea for civil and political freedoms and the reduction of exclusion belong to the very core of the human rights debate. This debate demands an interdisciplinary approach, to prevent the doctrine of human rights to become fundamentalist in itself. The book leaves the reader with these confusing views, and is challenged to reconsider the easier ones that simplify the multiculturalism discourse. Food for thought, both for academics of different disciplines and for politicians."

--Jenny E. Goldschmidt, director of the Netherlands Institute of Human Rights (SIM), Utrecht University

"This is a book that should be read by anyone interested in or concerned about the challenges that face religious pluralism in contemporary societies. Emanuel de Kadt warns against a widespread tendency to focus on the extremism of terrorists which he considers to be a distraction from the far more insidious fundamentalisms found within the Abrahamic traditions, which assert their authority to impose pre-Enlightenment social and ethical imperatives on the grounds of unquestionable and unquestioning beliefs that they, and they alone, know God's will. Professor de Kadt does not mince words, but his is a judiciously nuanced and scholarly argument. Assertive Religion is informative, provocative and eminently readable."

--Eileen Barker, Professor Emeritus of Sociology of Religion, London School of Economics

"This fascinating, innovative work is read in one sitting. It challenges the reader's ideas: not only by giving a very solid analysis of the essentials of fundamentalism in our major religions and their position towards the state. It also analyses the core dilemmas of multiculturalism. And last but not least: despite de Kadt's obvious scepticism with regard to the univeralist pretention of human rights, many conclusions, like the plea for civil and political freedoms and the reduction of exclusion belong to the very core of the human rights debate. This debate demands an interdisciplinary approach, to prevent the doctrine of human rights to become fundamentalist in itself. The book leaves the reader with these confusing views, and is challenged to reconsider the easier ones that simplify the multiculturalism discourse. Food for thought, both for academics of different disciplines and for politicians."

--Jenny E. Goldschmidt, director of the Netherlands Institute of Human Rights (SIM), Utrecht University

"This is a book that should be read by anyone interested in or concerned about the challenges that face religious pluralism in contemporary societies. Emanuel de Kadt warns against a widespread tendency to focus on the extremism of terrorists which he considers to be a distraction from the far more insidious fundamentalisms found within the Abrahamic traditions, which assert their authority to impose pre-Enlightenment social and ethical imperatives on the grounds of unquestionable and unquestioning beliefs that they, and they alone, know God's will. Professor de Kadt does not mince words, but his is a judiciously nuanced and scholarly argument. Assertive Religion is informative, provocative and eminently readable."

--Eileen Barker, Professor Emeritus of Sociology of Religion, London School of Economics