Without paying a lot of attention, most people assume they already know what it’s all about, and they’re either for it or against it, even before they’ve tried.
However, genuine dialogue can enable participants to see the world through someone else’s eyes, and come to a deeper understanding of how other people have learned to live well in a complex world.
Dialogue is Not Persuasion
Generally, people don’t make a faith commitment on the basis of someone’s persuasive explanation of doctrine, and talk is not usually what motivates people to convert to a new way of knowing God.
In fact, interfaith dialogue is not aimed at changing the participants in any way. Dialogue is getting to know each other better and thinking through some problem or shared project together.
Pastor Ramos Simajuntak, a Lutheran minister from rural Indonesia tells in an interview [November 14, 2001] of a plan he and some colleagues made in response to inter-religious violence in his country. They decided to have a picnic for everyone in town, Christian and Muslim both.
“We spent a lot of time planning it, the pastors and imams together,” he said. “We had to be especially careful about the food, to make sure that we provided food that everyone could eat.”
That, in a nutshell, is interfaith dialogue: identifying a community problem, (violence); deciding on a way forward (have a picnic); and sitting down to plan the program together. How to live well in a complex world.
Interfaith Dialogue is Not Watering Down, or a Lack of Commitment
It should also be clear that no one enters a dialogue as some kind of blank sheet. Everyone has a faith to live by, and any dialogue is from a position, not floating free in the air. Dialogue recognizes that all persons treasure and value the positions that they have come to, and takes place in a context of people with beliefs: beliefs that help them shape their lives within the world as they find it.
At the Asian Rural Institute (ARI), a Christian, multifaith community in Japan, community members have many fascinating interfaith dialogues. Most young people in Japan today have been raised to consciously have “no religion” a position that they see as ethical and peace loving.
Kisaku, a young college graduate commented on this aspect, saying, “I thought it was best to have no religion, because religion causes conflict, like in the Middle East. Before I came to ARI, I knew that there are people of many religions here, so I expected there to be a lot of conflict and fighting. I was surprised to see that people of different religions can live together in peace and with respect for other beliefs.” [interview: April 14, 1999].
Having respect for the beliefs of others does not necessarily imply a lack of faith in one’s own beliefs. Indeed, many believe that fearlessness is evidence of a mature faith that is not threatened by people who do not share it. Nonetheless, most would agree that society needs more knowledge and understanding of others and their ways in order to make any progress in a dangerous and fragmented world.
Dialogue requires trust, and building trust across boundaries is a necessary precondition. After that, a process of interfaith dialogue can lead participants to build new partnerships and take on new challenges together as a community.
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