臺灣=Taiwan; 包容=Tolerance; 跨宗教衝突=Interreligious conflict; 權力介入=Power to interfere; 建構宗教和平=Religious peacebuilding
摘要
In the religiously highly pluralistic society of post-martial law Taiwan, there is a general sense of peaceful coexistence between groups that worship different deities and religions with distinct truth claims. However, some situations give grounds for conflicts between religious groups; the boundary between the tolerable and intolerable is crossed. This border separates those practices and beliefs that are objected to but because of an acceptance component still can be tolerated, from those that are strictly rejected and should be acted upon. To investigate this border, this thesis searched for case studies of interreligious conflicts in modern Taiwan. Narratives of seven cases of conflicts show the objection and acceptance components throughout the conflict and how eventually a tolerable resolution was arrived at and which methods were used to pursue religious peace. The model of interreligious conflicts in modern Taiwan that I offer is based on these seven narratives. Five of these cases are described briefly, serving as a frame of reference. The remaining two cases are the Da’an Park Guanyin conflict and the 218 Event at Yu Shan Yan Luminary Temple. These are analysed in-depth through the evaluation of current news reports on topics including conflict development through objection and acceptance components as well as the contributing factors and participants, their power to interfere with the religious Other, and the context in which the conflicts are understood. Besides which practices and beliefs of the religious Other have been rejected to the extent that they caused conflict, the cases also show how a tolerable resolution was arrived at. The result is an evaluation of the level of interreligious tolerance in Taiwan by the description of cases of conflict. Still ongoing cases demonstrate the current level of (in)tolerance amongst religious organizations. First, however, this thesis discusses concepts such as “religious tolerance,” “religious peacebuilding,” and “power to interfere,” together with an analysis of the current religious environment in Taiwan, to identify useful guidelines and methods for evaluating religious tolerance in Taiwan.
Abstract 2 摘要 3 Table of Contents 4 List of Tables 5 CHAPTER 1: Introduction 6 1.1 Study background & motivation 6 1.2 Literature review 8 The concept of tolerance 8 Religions’ power to interfere in modern Taiwan 13 1.3 Research methods 19 1.4 Framework for the cases of conflicts 22 Note on transcription and translation of Chinese 24 CHAPTER 2: Overview of interreligious conflicts in modern Taiwan 25 2.1 Bantian Yan Ziyun Temple 26 2.2 Siaolin Village 28 2.3 Critique of Yiguandao 29 2.4 Critique of the True Buddha School 30 2.5 Taichung Mazu Park 31 2.6 Islamic graveyards 33 2.7 Model of interreligious conflicts in modern Taiwan 35 CHAPTER 3: Must Guanyin Leave or Stay in Da’an Park 37 3.1 Background 37 3.2 Narrative 39 3.3 References to similar issues 46 3.4 Power to interfere 46 3.5 Morality among “Us” and “the Other” 49 3.6 Concessions 51 CHAPTER 4: Yu Shan Yan Luminary Temple 218 Event 53 4.1 Background 53 4.2 Narrative 55 4.3 The bigger picture 59 4.4 Power to interfere 60 4.5 Respecting “Us” and the “Other” 62 4.6 Adjustments to keep the peace 64 CHAPTER 5: Conclusion 66 Glossary 70 People 71 References 73 News Reports 76
