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Historically the paradigm of religious governance in South Korea focused on controlling and regulation, with a constrained conception of "diversity" and a thin veneer of tolerance. The traditional pattern of religious governance in Korea reflects a merely nominal pluralism and problematic oligopolistic assumptions. Religious and worldview diversity is increasing in numerous ways. The mismatch between religious governance and religious diversity can be seen in the government's treatment of unconventional religious groups. There is a need in Korea for the kind of robust, relational, and non-relativistic model represented by covenantal pluralism. Fortunately, there are emerging signs of potential progress toward this model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Embracing religious belief and societal norms, in addition to state laws and policies, covenantal pluralism has the potential to address key limitations of existing approaches to dealing with religious diversity. Nevertheless, it also shares some of the problems of other ideals. Notably, the demands of covenantal pluralism seem too onerous for most of the world, relying as they do on most of the population recognizing the value of religious pluralism. This article explores the possibilities and limits of covenantal pluralism in India, once heralded as a pluralist democracy, currently under the grip of Hindu supremacist authoritarianism. India's historical record challenges key assumptions of theories of pluralist co-existence, illuminating problems and prospects for covenantal pluralism across the globe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]