Since I was in graduate school, I have been committed to being involved with more than just my own gang of Quakers. College and especially graduate school opened me up to a world so much bigger than I had imagined. Growing up where I did, virtually everyone was a Christian. And most of them were not Catholics. There actually were quite a big number of Quakers---which is funny, since Quakers are a miniscule dot on the world’s religion stage. I knew very few Catholics. And as far as I could tell, there were no Jews in our community and certainly nobody from the Eastern religions or Islam.
College began to change that and graduate school exploded my little world. Ironically in graduate school, I lived right next to the Center for the Study of World Religions. My next-door neighbors were a great mix of the various world religions. Across the backyard fence, I could see people of all sorts of colors who often were dressed in different kinds of robes or had some kind of religious head gear. My mind was opened and my soul stretched.
I describe the conversation between major religions interfaith dialogue. Dialogue is the key word. Dialogue is a conversation in which one is not trying to convert the other. Respect governs the conversation. Differences are recognized and commonalities are celebrated. It is not unusual to discover all religious traditions have done some stupid, even bad, things in the name of their religion. Christianity clearly has much for which to atone. Any sober Christian cringes when reading some of our history.
All this came back to mind as I followed Pope Francis’ trip to the United Arab Emirates. It was a significant visit for the Pope to travel to this Muslim country. Of course, the Pope knew exactly what he wanted to signify to the world. And equally, I’m sure, officials in the UAE knew what they wanted from saying yes to the papal visit. I have enjoyed watching it happen and celebrate some of the results. One result is a document signed by the Pope and Sheik Ahmad el-Tayeb, Grand Imam of al-Azhar. I love the title of the document the signed: “A Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together.” Let’s look at a few lines from the document.
The first line I cite is the focus of many reporters’ emphasis. The document affirms, “We, who believe in God and in the final meeting with him and his judgment, on the basis of our religious and moral responsibility, and through this document, call upon ourselves, upon the leaders of the world as well as the architects of international policy and world economy, to work strenuously to spread the culture of tolerance and of living together in peace.” We can unpack this very significant sentence.
A couple quick observations are important. The first word of the sentence is “we.” This is the way some of the most important creeds of the Christian tradition begins. We is a corporate statement. Of course, both the Pope and the Grand Imam can each say “I.” But together they can also say, “we.” The corporate affirmation continues by claiming they both believe in God. This is easy for a Christian and a Muslim. Both are part of the monotheistic religious tradition, which also includes Judaism. They are beginning from the commonality of belief in God or Allah. One is an English word and one is an Arabic word---same word.
Interestingly, the next affirmation is commonality in believing both traditions see a final meeting with God and experiencing God’s judgment. And that judgment is rooted in peoples’ religious and moral responsibility. How we act matters; in fact, it matters ultimately, I can hear both men saying. And then they point to the specifics of that religious and moral responsibility.
The specifics concern working for a culture of tolerance and living together in peace. Whew! This is fantastic. If you are a Christian or Muslim, your responsibility is cultivating an environment of tolerance. This is wonderful guidance for action in any situation in any community in any country. When you are with someone unlike yourself, be tolerant. It means you don’t have to change the other person and they will not seek to change you. No doubt, respect is at the heart of tolerance. To tolerate someone else means more than simply letting them alone or ignoring them. Tolerance is an active, respecting way of being with the other. It is participatory.
The second piece of the papal and imam call to action is to live together in peace. No doubt, this is where being tolerant should take us all. In fact, this is God’s call to all of us: live in peace. Ultimately, this will ask for more than tolerance. To live in peace requires a form of love. If we truly love and are loved, then it should be very difficult to get off track. Out of love we can commit to forgiveness, rather than fighting, when something goes wrong. Peace is built upon trust. And love helps trust develop.
True love also will work for justice, because real love should not abide by injustice. In actuality we see three of the key virtues needed for this kind of life together: love, justice and trust. Those are the keys to how we practice what we preach.
Interfaith dialogue is not a cute phrase. It is the key to a new world among people.
College began to change that and graduate school exploded my little world. Ironically in graduate school, I lived right next to the Center for the Study of World Religions. My next-door neighbors were a great mix of the various world religions. Across the backyard fence, I could see people of all sorts of colors who often were dressed in different kinds of robes or had some kind of religious head gear. My mind was opened and my soul stretched.
I describe the conversation between major religions interfaith dialogue. Dialogue is the key word. Dialogue is a conversation in which one is not trying to convert the other. Respect governs the conversation. Differences are recognized and commonalities are celebrated. It is not unusual to discover all religious traditions have done some stupid, even bad, things in the name of their religion. Christianity clearly has much for which to atone. Any sober Christian cringes when reading some of our history.
All this came back to mind as I followed Pope Francis’ trip to the United Arab Emirates. It was a significant visit for the Pope to travel to this Muslim country. Of course, the Pope knew exactly what he wanted to signify to the world. And equally, I’m sure, officials in the UAE knew what they wanted from saying yes to the papal visit. I have enjoyed watching it happen and celebrate some of the results. One result is a document signed by the Pope and Sheik Ahmad el-Tayeb, Grand Imam of al-Azhar. I love the title of the document the signed: “A Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together.” Let’s look at a few lines from the document.
The first line I cite is the focus of many reporters’ emphasis. The document affirms, “We, who believe in God and in the final meeting with him and his judgment, on the basis of our religious and moral responsibility, and through this document, call upon ourselves, upon the leaders of the world as well as the architects of international policy and world economy, to work strenuously to spread the culture of tolerance and of living together in peace.” We can unpack this very significant sentence.
A couple quick observations are important. The first word of the sentence is “we.” This is the way some of the most important creeds of the Christian tradition begins. We is a corporate statement. Of course, both the Pope and the Grand Imam can each say “I.” But together they can also say, “we.” The corporate affirmation continues by claiming they both believe in God. This is easy for a Christian and a Muslim. Both are part of the monotheistic religious tradition, which also includes Judaism. They are beginning from the commonality of belief in God or Allah. One is an English word and one is an Arabic word---same word.
Interestingly, the next affirmation is commonality in believing both traditions see a final meeting with God and experiencing God’s judgment. And that judgment is rooted in peoples’ religious and moral responsibility. How we act matters; in fact, it matters ultimately, I can hear both men saying. And then they point to the specifics of that religious and moral responsibility.
The specifics concern working for a culture of tolerance and living together in peace. Whew! This is fantastic. If you are a Christian or Muslim, your responsibility is cultivating an environment of tolerance. This is wonderful guidance for action in any situation in any community in any country. When you are with someone unlike yourself, be tolerant. It means you don’t have to change the other person and they will not seek to change you. No doubt, respect is at the heart of tolerance. To tolerate someone else means more than simply letting them alone or ignoring them. Tolerance is an active, respecting way of being with the other. It is participatory.
The second piece of the papal and imam call to action is to live together in peace. No doubt, this is where being tolerant should take us all. In fact, this is God’s call to all of us: live in peace. Ultimately, this will ask for more than tolerance. To live in peace requires a form of love. If we truly love and are loved, then it should be very difficult to get off track. Out of love we can commit to forgiveness, rather than fighting, when something goes wrong. Peace is built upon trust. And love helps trust develop.
True love also will work for justice, because real love should not abide by injustice. In actuality we see three of the key virtues needed for this kind of life together: love, justice and trust. Those are the keys to how we practice what we preach.
Interfaith dialogue is not a cute phrase. It is the key to a new world among people.
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