Interreligious demographics in neighborhoods around the world and on the internet have changed life for us all. This shift arrived without planning or foresight, raising dozens of questions and not offering easy answers. It can arrive with a jolt. When a son or daughter brings home a fiancé from a different religion, for example, brand new questions and feelings are fairly well guaranteed.
Religiously Motivated Peacemaking – a Report Card
Millions of people this month, representing hundreds of religious traditions, are joining parades, festivals, sporting events, broadcasts, workshops, and all manner of activities championing peace in a broken world. Still, this hopeful global interfaith wave cannot silence the biblical rage, voiced centuries ago, when the prophet, pointing his finger at greed and deceit, cried, “‘Peace, peace,’ they say, when there is no peace.” (Jeremiah 6:13-14)
Keynote Address Electrifies Claremont Lincoln University Launch
Selecting an academic keynoter to launch a new kind of boundary-breaking theological institution was surely a daunting assignment. Attendees at the September 6 opening convocation of Claremont Lincoln University were clearly excited about seeing the world’s first intentionally multireligious school of theology come to life. But they probably didn’t expect to be electrified by the keynote address, didn’t expect to jump to their feet with cheers and applause when it ended. Which is what happened.
World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue Held in Baku
Initiated by the government of Azerbaijan, a World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue was held April 7-9, 2011, in Baku, Azerbaijan. The Forum was supported by the Council of Europe, the North-South Centre, UNESCO, the UN Alliance of Civilizations, and ISESCO.
World Congress of Faiths Celebrates Its 75th Anniversary
St Martin in the Fields in London’s Trafalgar Square was full on July 24th for a special evening service which marked the 75th anniversary of the founding of the World Congress of Faiths. The venue was particularly appropriate as the memorial service for Sir Francis Younghusband – the founder of WCF – which was held there in 1942, and included tributes from people of different faiths, in what The Church Times described as a ‘rather improper performance.’
North American Interfaith Network Explores the Golden Rule
Seventy interfaith leaders from across Canada and the United States met in Phoenix, Arizona for NAINConnect 2011, July 24-26, the annual gathering of the North America Interfaith Network. This year’s theme: “Many People, Many Faiths, One Common Principle: The Golden Rule.”
Getting to know you… a lot better
The collaborating editors of The Dialogue Comes of Age: Christian Encounters with Other Traditions are John B. Cobb, Jr., emeritus professor of theology at the Claremont School of Theology, and Ward M. McAfee, emeritus professor of history at the California State University of San Bernardino. Both have compiled distinguished teaching and publishing records.
A Conversation with John Cobb
TIO: Thank you for taking the time to speak with me, Professor Cobb. I’m particularly interested in talking about one of your recent books.
John Cobb:Which one?
TIO: The Dialogue Comes of Age: Christian Encounters with Other Traditions.
Cobb: I thought you might be referring to it.
TIO: One of the things that struck me was how it focused on dialogue between religious communities as a collective. Could you tell me more about that?
The Lost Art of Listening
The North American Interfaith Network (NAIN) gathering in Phoenix, Arizona, last July included a visit to a Hindu temple where a meal was shared along with questions, stories, and new friendships, all depending on everyone listening very carefully to each other.
Respectful communication is at the heart of all interfaith gatherings. We know that it is one of the most important components for building relationships of peace and harmony across faith traditions and belief systems. The focus of this essay is on the importance of the art of listening in interfaith dialogue and practices that support us in becoming more effective listeners.
If we think of speaking and listening as two of the major elements of communication, most often speaking is thought of as the more powerful role; it certainly gets the most attention. My experience is that the role of listening is even more powerful, although one seldom recognized or understood. For example, we often hear someone comment “That was a really powerful speech.” I’ve never heard anyone say: “That was a really powerful way to listen.”
Rights, Responsibilities, and Skills of Dialogue
For true dialogue to occur it needs to take place within a protective environment of mutually accepted rights and responsibilities, rooted in two fundamental values: respect for the human person and trust in the process of dialogue. Dialogue works best when the participants are willing to develop certain skills that facilitate the process.
A Safe Place to Address Prejudice, Stereotypes, and Fears
Several years ago I joined a small group of concerned people responding to a growing interest in appreciating and respecting the faith traditions of humankind. We developed home-based educational programs for small groups of interested people who know little if anything about religions other than their own. It began informally, spread by word of mouth, and now hundreds of workshops have been held.
The Language of Interfaith Conversation
Mindful interfaith language expresses our common humanity, builds relationships of respect and trust, and pursues peace.
Guidelines for Engaging in Productive Interfaith Dialogue
First, why are you involved with interfaith dialogue? Are you promoting an understanding of your own faith in an interfaith venue or promoting interfaith itself?
A ‘Dialogue of Life’ Approach to Interfaith Peace in West Africa
Children in Ghana are being raised in a ‘dialogue of life’ that makes religious differences a source of friendship, not conflict. [Source]
A religious revolution has emerged in many local African communities and nations as a whole in the last one hundred years or so. Within the period, various religions have come to live in closer proximity with one another than they had during the previous century. African towns and cities now collaborate with churches and mosques and to a lesser extent traditional/primal religious activities.
Subsequently, at the present time, people of different faiths encounter one another more often in both structured and unstructured ways. For example, in many homes across Ghana and the Gambia, it is common to find followers of African indigenous religions, Christianity, and Islam – with all the different groups of Christianity and Islam living together. By extension such relations are carried to the larger village or town community.
The Frightening Next Step in Interfaith Dialogue
There are two kinds of interfaith programs: the safe and the frightening. The safe leave us untouched; we are the same persons going in as we are coming out. The frightening leave us not only touched but transformed; we are different coming out then we were going in.
From hatred to healing
Who was not stunned by the recent events in Norway, as news of the bombing in Oslo and the subsequent massacre of some 69 young people at a camp on an island nearby broke on the world? As details followed, it appeared that the man responsible for the attacks believed he was fighting for a "Christian Europe" against Islam, Marxism, and multiculturalism.
An Interview With Diana Eck
Dr. Diana L. Eck, Professor of Comparative Religion and Indian Studies at Harvard University, is a leader in interreligious studies and interfaith bridge-building. Her A New Religious America (2001) unveiled the diversity that has changed forever America's religious makeup.