Interfaith dialogue: seven key questions for theory,policy and practice

Interfaith dialogue is increasingly being recognised by governments across Europe as crucial to developing cohesive communities. This article critically analyses approaches for developing strategies to promote interfaith dialogue between individuals and/or organisations within civil society. It does this by drawing on a series of theoretical questions concerning those who are involved (and missing), what the dialogue is for, and how the dynamics of participation and representation are handled. In the process, the article considers the conditions, spaces, processes, relationships and understandings of identity that can enable successful interfaith dialogue, and how these might be developed in ways which address the issues raised. The original theoretical analysis presented in this article is supported by examples from the author’s cumulative research with policymakers and practitioners across Europe since 2004.     

Interfaith Dialogue in Lebanon: Between a Power Balancing Act and Theological Encounters

This essay explores trends and directions of interfaith dialogue in Lebanon with a special focus on developments since the Ta'if Agreement (1989) signed at the end of the civil war. While viewing the encounters of interfaith dialogue in Lebanon against the background of political and social developments, the particular focus of this study is the ventures and potential of “inter-theological dialogue.” In particular, it explores the new initiatives whose focus is on theological and spiritual dialogue, since they seem to have been virtually ignored by recent studies in the field, even though inter-theological discussions have constituted an important part of inter-religious dialogue in Lebanon. The article proposes that theological dialogue in Lebanon is necessary in order to reach true ta?āyush (living together), particularly because politics and religion are intricately intertwined. Focusing on two initiatives within the past 15 years, it shows how they strive to make theological discourse – sometimes a merely intellectual exercise – relevant for society.     

Lesslie Newbigin and Edinburgh’s Common Call

In a world where pluralism is the norm, interfaith encounter and dialogue are essential parts of the Christian experience. Lesslie Newbigin reflected extensively on a theological understanding of the Christian encounter with those of other faiths, emphasizing the importance of both a humble orientation toward God and others and a firm commitment to the uniqueness of Jesus Christ. This juxtaposition of humble witness and firm faith in interfaith encounter is also reflected in the Edinburgh 2010 mission conference’s Common Call. This article will explore Newbigin’s reflections on interfaith dialogue and consider their implications for the future of the ecumenical movement.     

Doctors and diversity: Using interfaith literacy and interfaith dialogue to improve patient care

In an increasingly diversifying world, how can doctors and other healthcare professionals improve patient care? Currently, many doctors do not understand how to approach religious differences or recognize their effect on patient health. Doctors must acquire interfaith literacy in medical school through required courses and learn the skills necessary to engage in interfaith dialogue with patients in their practice in order to provide the best patient care in areas with growing diverse patient populations.     

The Prospect of a Global Ethic on HIV/AIDS: The Religions and the Science–and–Religion Dialogue

This article introduces essays from a 2001 symposium on a global ethic and the issue of the spread of HIV/AIDS. The symposium began with the assumption that we can determine the possibility for such a global ethic if we both explore the potential of an interreligious dialogue and do so in the context of a science–and–religion dialogue. I argue that while the possibilities for a global ethic, in particular addressing the issue of HIV/AIDS, may be debated, the results of this symposium suggest that the dialogue ought to be continued and that there is significant potential in the interfaith dialogue for creating models for both an ethic and specific strategies for action.     

The Integrity of Interfaith Dialogue

Since the second half of the last century, not only has there been much talk of interfaith dialogue but also meetings and activities aimed at promoting interfaith dialogue in general and Christian-Muslim dialogue in particular have become common phenomena. Despite the modest gains made through dialogue in promoting better understanding between people of different religions, dialogue has become increasingly vulnerable to popular mistrust in the eyes of many in the Western, but even more in the non-Western, worlds. Dialogue is perceived by many as an attempt to undermine faith in order to preserve interfaith harmony and to promote peaceful co-existence at the expense of honest engagement and discussion. To build confidence in dialogue amongst people from the non-Western world, I have identified five main issues that need critical re-examination, namely: theological issues and the general notion that truth claims are the main stumbling blocks to dialogue; the relationship between mission or propagation and dialogue; the challenge of inherited traditions in relation to the negative and hostile depictions of the Other; the burden of the past and the need to be honest with ourselves and partners in dialogue; and facing the challenge of re-examining our presuppositions about the Other in light of existential realities.     

Interfaith Dialogue

The modern ecumenical movement initially sprang from the missionary movement. This led to considerable struggle within the ecumenical movement over embracing interfaith dialogue as a main focus of its ministry. This focus was eventually accepted, and since then the ecumenical movement has done much to promote interfaith relations at the local, national, and global level; to struggle with the theological issues such dialogue presents for the Christian faith; and to collaborate with other religions to reflect on common issues faced by the global community. Current Dialogue has played a major role in promoting the dialogue concern.     

Between daʿwa and Dialogue: Religious Engagement in Muslim-minority Environments

ABSTRACT

Muslim engagement in interfaith and intercultural dialogue began in earnest after the turn of the twenty-first century in response to the rise of global jihad. Both dialogue and jihad are outgrowths of da?wa, the call or mission of Islam, the principal mode of modern Islamic activism. The foundations were laid in the later part of the twentieth century by Muslim intellectual-activists living in non-Muslim environments, who played a special role in conceptualizing the new notion of dialogue and its relation to da?wa. This essay focuses on four pioneering figures, two from the indigenous context of India – the modernist Asghar Ali Engineer and the reformist ?ālim Wahiduddin Khan, and two from the diaspora milieu of the West – the Palestinian-American academic activist Ismail Raji al-Faruqi and the European Muslim spokesman Tariq Ramadan. Each represents a distinct religious orientation that also reflects a different phase in the evolution of modern Islamic discourse. Taken together, these intellectual-activists chart the trajectory of modern Islam from the early pre-Islamist liberal hopes to the present post- and neo-Islamist efforts to navigate between Western-dominated globalization and Islamist jihadism.     

Beginning Christian–Muslim Dialogue in Western Sydney: Context and Practice

This article is the initial paper of a longer project that aims to chart the progress of Christian–Muslim dialogue in western Sydney, Australia. The first part provides the context for aspects of Muslim settlement, organization and practice in Australia. Following a brief overview of interfaith dialogue, the second part offers an exposition and analysis of the objectives and motivation of the three organizers of Christian–Muslim dialogue in the west of Sydney, and assesses the initial outcomes of the dialogues. The style of the exposition is discursive, allowing the voices of the organizers to be heard. The analysis is offered under the rubrics of inter-cultural diversity and interfaith dialogue. No validation of the organizers' perceptions against those of the participants is attempted.

It is shown that the organizers' instinct to promote dialogue interaction on the human and social level attracted a great deal of interest from a wide audience. The structure employed for the gatherings was recognized by politicians and community leaders as an effective model for wider community-building exercises. Difficulties identified include responding to resistance to the dialogues, and deepening the dialogue experience for participants. The selection of the appropriate audience, format and forum for future gatherings is crucial to the ongoing success of the project.     

Blurring boundaries and advancing interreligious understanding by engaging textual ‘others’ in a women’s interfaith book group

This article casts analytical light on how Jewish, Christian and Muslim women develop understanding of religious identities by engaging with multidimensional textual ‘others’ in the Daughters of Abraham interfaith book groups. It focuses on a group discussion of a rabbi’s memoir about her religious journey. Drawing on ethnographic material and Talal Asad’s analysis of the relationship between text and reader, I examine how narratives outside primary religious texts influence ideas about Jewish, Christian and Muslim identities. I argue that the Daughters members’ appropriation of literary voices advances their engagement with religious diversity by developing understanding of religious self and others. Moreover, members’ navigation of inter- and intra-religious relations during discussions of texts blur boundaries for inclusion into this interfaith encounter. This examination raises questions about issues of identity, power dynamics and interfaith relations. Importantly, it provides novel insight into the understudied areas of women’s interreligious encounter and shared reading practices.     

Bereavement and Meaning Reconstruction among Japanese Immigrant Widows: Living with Grief in a Place of Marginality and Liminality in the United States

Using an ethnographic study of nine senior Japanese immigrant widows of international marriages in the San Francisco Bay Area, the author investigated how these women affirmed or reconstructed the meaning of their loss and life and how their worldview, rituals, and faith communities provided a significant source of support after loss. As Asian immigrant widows, the women in this study lived in a marginalized place with multiple losses. The significant key themes that emerged from their narratives, grounded in their intercultural and interfaith experiences, were 1) re-learning to live new lives as immigrant widows; 2) acceptance of human finitude, solitude, and a sense of fulfilment; 3) continuing to have bonds with the deceased; and 4) potential creativity through establishing communitas.     

Islamic university theology

In the present article, the author discusses the emergence of new centres and chairs in Islamic theology in the Northern European context. Being mainly explorative, the article seeks to formulate a theoretical framework for analysing what happens to Islamic theology when it becomes integrated into a Northern European, secular university setting. Do we see a shift in emphasis from religion-specific traditionalism to de-culturalized universalism and interfaith dialogue? Key notions in the author’s analysis are formatting, university theology and the three publics (David Tracy) of theology. Empirical examples of how Islamic theology is currently being done (or formatted) in a European university setting are taken from two German centres for Islamic theology. With reference to publications originating from these centres, the author discusses different, but overlapping discourses in emerging Islamic university theologies – one centred on general subjects such as ethics, hermeneutics and humanism, another oriented towards “innovation in tradition”.     

The limits of interfaith? Interfaith identities,emerging potentialities,and exclusivity

Interfaith movements within the United States are currently attempting to integrate nonreligionists – agnostics, unaffiliated, humanists, and atheists for example – into their dialogical spaces. We argue that this attempt to further inclusivity within interfaith movements, although well-intended, is impeded by what we refer to as the interfaith identity paradigm. This paradigm focuses on concretised religious identities through a confessional model, which powerfully circumscribes intended efforts to engage with multi-layered experiences and radical inclusiveness. As such, we utilise contemporary anthropological theories regarding subjectivity to demonstrate that the interfaith identity paradigm results in limited participation by nonreligionists. Based on several months of participant observation at multiple interfaith meetings, this article intends to initiate a conversation among interfaith practitioners endeavouring to cultivate inviting and open spaces for religionists and nonreligionists alike. The objective of this article is not to offer solutions, but to point out a constraining practice prevalent within interfaith meetings within the United States.     

Ecumenical Tensions among Nigerian Christians

This article focuses on recent disturbing trends opposed to Christian unity in Nigeria that have both remote and immediate causes. Although the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) was formed to promote unity among the various Christian denominations in the country, it has not been able to achieve its goal. After describing this present situation and the historical factors that caused it, this paper looks to the resources of the Second Vatican Council which CAN should adopt to ease the tension in the country and promote greater dialogue. The article looks at the Roman Catholic‐Lutheran Declaration that was signed in 1999, and officially resolved the disagreements that led to the split led by Martin Luther in 1517. Finally this paper looks at the style of Pope Francis as a living example of effective ecumenism and interfaith dialogue.     

Interfaith etiquette in an age of Islamophobia

Islamophobia represents one of the greatest moral dilemmas of our time. Anti‐Muslim hostility and hatred, driven by racism, has manifested itself in exclusionary, discriminatory, and violent actions toward Muslims and those perceived as Muslims. By most metrics, Islamophobia in the United States is only getting worse. This article draws on Krister Stendahl's rules of interfaith engagement as a means of offering Christians a blueprint for how to reach out and engage with their Muslim neighbors in an age of Islamophobia.     

Does Proximity Matter in Promoting Interfaith Dialogue?

This paper explores the role of physical proximity of places of worship in facilitating interfaith dialogue. The research focuses on a religious cluster within the Greater Toronto Area, which emerged due to incremental zoning changes over time. Using key informant interviews as the method and Allport’s contact hypothesis as the guiding theoretical framework, it explores the effects of proximity and contact (interaction or encounters) on intergroup relations. The findings suggest that physical proximity is not a strong factor in facilitating interfaith dialogue initiatives. However, proximity does seem to have an effect in creating a space for interactions and encounters to occur, which can lead to attitudinal shifts concerning the religious “other.”