The next section of the course is concerned with particular cases. The Russian Revolution and the development of the Marxist position on religion forms part of the debate. We then move on to the non-Western reactions to the European experience on secularism, rationality and religion. India and Sri Lanka, Hindu and Buddhist, respectively, and both with long histories of colonization, have had the least problem with secularism until now. The Hindu and the Buddhist context is examined with a view to giving you both an idea about these religions and societies as well as their modern predicaments.
Secularism is now a serious issue in both cases.
Iran and the return of Islam in a militant form is the subject matter of the penultimate section. The course ends with a discussion of the Salman Rushdie's book The Satanic Verses which turns out to be a direct commentary on the questions raised by freedom of conscience and religious authority. Students are expected to become familiar with the general Western experience concerning the debate about religion in the first part of the course. They may, however, concentrate their reading on two of the four non-Western examples provided in the second part. Lectures and Films Lectures will be held on Mondays and Wednesdays.