What is Pluralism?

Pluralism is an ideology that embraces social, cultural and political inclusiveness. In a pluralistic community, people from different religions, ethnicities, races, places of origin, economic means, or different political beliefs cooperate and share power, despite often having different or even conflicting beliefs and interests. Pluralism encourages peaceful co-existence through democratic compromise and mutual understanding. Under pluralism, all people and groups are treated as equal in practice and before the law. This does not mean that individuals can’t decide for themselves that some beliefs or viewpoints are better than others. Instead, it means that permitting different approaches is best for a whole society to live together in harmony, pursuing happiness individually, and progress collectively. We will never all agree about everything. People are complex and most of us have conflicting thoughts and opinions, even within ourselves. Many questions have more than one answer, and many truths are not universal. A pluralistic perspective strives to understand and respect these differences in our perspectives and experiences, it makes us stronger, more agile and resilient in facing challenges, and binding us together as a community in which all are valued and accepted.