We have three competing monotheistic revelations in the world. Each community trusts the revelation they
possess to be the historical truth received from God. And within each community there are different
interpretations, all vying with each other to accurately articulate the revelatory
truth at the heart of the tradition. This we know.
Some, inside and outside these different religions, want to
emphasize what unites rather than what divides the respective believers. Others are sure their religion is right and
all the rest are wrong. Still others say
we will not know who is right until we come face to face with God, assuming
there is a God, so, they argue, let’s try and get along for now.
But the goal is not to get along. The goal is not to assert you are right and
the other guy is wrong. After all, there
are theological and ethical areas where caring Jews, Christians and Muslims
can agree. Good! Where we can work together, let us do
so. But, there are places
where we are compelled to disagree. That’s
fine as well. We must learn to disagree,
to argue respectfully without holding a grudge, to learn to ask what does the
other person believe and why do they believe it? Ultimately, the goal is to listen, engage,
and when necessary, respectfully disagree.
The reason this is so hard to do is it requires trust, trust
that you really want to get to know and listen to me and are not out to convert me. And, at the same time, you need to trust that
I am not out to get you. Establishing such trust between people of different religions
is not easy. It takes, time, effort and commitment
on both sides. It is easier to disagree,
distrust and dismiss the other side rather than think they have something of
value to teach me.
Invest the time to get to know and listen to someone of a
different religion. You will find that
your own faith will become deeper, clearer and wiser. I know this, because it happened to me.
No comments:
Post a Comment