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Document Details : Title: Negotiating National Sameness and Religious Difference Subtitle: Pakistani Christian Identity betwen 'Western Christianity' and Pakistani Islamization Author(s): GRIT, Kor Journal: Studies in Interreligious Dialogue Volume: 28 Issue: 1 Date: 2018 Pages: 101-128 DOI: 10.2143/SID.28.1.3285346 Abstract : As a place for Christian-Muslim dialogue in Pakistan, the Christian Study Centre (CSC) in Rawalpindi inhabits an exceptional position in relation to both its roots in global missionary and ecumenical movements, as well as processes of Islamization on a national level. While CSC’s international connectivity has influenced the organization’s policies and activities regarding interreligious relations, it has also jeopardized its 'Pakistani' character. This character is further contested through Pakistani Christian experiences of social exclusion of as a result of processes of 'Islamization' in the country. In response to both this international and national context, CSC advances definitions of Pakistani Christian identity. Through an analysis of these expressions in CSC’s journal Al-Mushir, especially in the context of interreligious dialogue, this study shows that the organization attempts to disassociate this identity from foreignness and associate it with the local context. At the same time, however, these expressions of identity also constitute efforts to redefine both Christian and Pakistani identity. |
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