Does the world really need interreligious dialogue?

Growing up in what could best be described as a decidedly non-ecumenical Protestant denomination, I was taught to treat “interfaith” like a bad word.

But the negativity around interactions between people of different religious, spiritual and humanistic beliefs always sat a bit awkwardly with my everyday experience growing up in Los Angeles, one of the most religiously diverse cities in the United States.

I couldn’t square the alarming discourse around interreligious interactions with the lived reality of diversity that defined my teenage years (and beyond). My friends were Buddhist and Muslim, Jewish and Christian, Pagan and atheist.

And so, despite the warnings, I stayed curious about different traditions, learning about other religions as I dove deeper into my own.

As I’ve made religion my profession, I’ve also come to appreciate how interreligious dialogue has changed over the years and how it is far from the caricature I was brought up to believe it was.

On the occasion of the 2023 Parliament of the World’s Religions in Chicago (August 14-18), I shared some thoughts on interreligious dialogue and its role in the contemporary world on my column, “What You Missed Without Religion Class.”

Interfaith dialogue often gets a bad rap as a project concerned with surface level “feel good” conversations. Today, interreligious dialogue (a more widely preferred term) has grown into a multifaceted and critical field of interaction with real-world impact and implications for your life and mine.

The Value of Interreligious Engagement

While I was long interested in getting to know people of faith traditions other than my own, it was probably during my time serving at Arizona State University (ASU) that I came to appreciate the true value of interreligious engagement.

Working together with imams, rabbis, pastors, and leaders as part of the Council of Religious Advisors (CORA) at ASU, I learned how important it was for people of multiple faiths to cooperate for the sake of good will and dialogue on college campuses.

That’s why it was a true joy and special honor to be a guest on the “Neighbors of Faith” podcast, hosted by Rev. Bart Loos. Bart is a friend and colleague from SoCal, who currently serves at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). As part of his wider efforts there, he launched a podcast that puts him in conversation with leaders and learners of different religious traditions.

In this episode, we talk about the why, what, and how of interreligious engagement as I share some stories and insights from my work in that realm over the last decade.

“We Need Each Other to Survive”: How Interfaith Orgs are Responding to COVID-19

When the COVID-19 pandemic started, Zaw Zaw Aung’s first thought was how the disease might put further strain on already fraught relationships in Myanmar, where there are ongoing tensions between Buddhists and Muslims.

Aung is the Programme Manager of Paungsie Metta Initiatives (PMI), a multi-religious network of Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, and Muslims that promotes peaceful dialogue across Myanmar.

Rather than endangering PMI’s efforts, the crisis has proved an opportunity to strengthen bridge-building between Myanmar’s multiple religious communities, Aung said.

As part of my reporting for the King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz International Centre for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue (KAICIID), I had the opportunity to speak with Zaw Zaw Aung and other interfaith leaders in Nigeria, Indonesia, the Middle East, and the Central African Republic about their efforts in the wake of the global pandemic.

These are their stories of courage in the face of the coronavirus, making connections in an age of social distancing, and how interfaith responses to the global crisis are creating fertile ground for future inter-religious engagement.

The Power of "Virtual Exchange" in a Time of Online-Only Interreligious Dialogue

As participants file into the room, they each take their respective spots around the table. Settling in, they keep their microphones muted until the facilitator is ready to begin the dialogue session. Each is ready to listen, to learn, to connect across geographic, religious, and social differences.

This time around, however, there is one more divide to overcome between them — a digital one.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses, individuals, and organizations around the world are reimagining how in-person experiences can be transferred online. Tour operators are offering “virtual vacations,” universities and schools are moving courses online, and “digital dating” is becoming an alternative to in-person meet-ups.

The crisis has also precipitated a shift in approaches to intercultural and interreligious dialogue.

While there are challenges in the change, interreligious organizations and seasoned dialogue practitioners are finding inventive ways to not only transfer dialogue online, but make it more effective in the process.

Drawing on their wealth of experience, they are using digital tools in intentional ways. While it may seem surprising, they are finding online dialogue can foster transformative relationships across differences.

6 Steps to Connecting with "the Religious Other"

The other day I was driving down a road near Miami, FL looking for a mosque. I got lost. Like REALLY lost. Like 30 minutes-out-of-my-way-and-have-to-back-track-now-and-I'm-super-late-for-my-appointment lost. Even though I was wearing a Hawaiian shirt and some Raybans, it was hard for me to keep my cool (rim shot!). 

Then I drove past an Eastern Orthodox Church. Then a menorah popped up on the right hand side of the road. Then there was a branch of a Brazilian Pentecostal church trying to evangelize the Americas. Then there was an herberia with statues and accessories for Santeria rituals. Once I took the time to calm down and open my eyes I could appreciate the drive (sort of) for en education in Miami's stunning religious diversity. 

The thing is -- Miami isn't alone in its spiritual miscellany. 

Religious pluralism is a fact in an ever more globalized, individualized, and post-modern society. The reality of religious pluralism, and its attendant ideology of tolerance, presupposes a serious shift for the "Christian Church" from a position of privilege to one of marginality among many.

-- How can we navigate such a shift? --

Christian apologist, evangelist, and teacher had me on his podcast "Re-Connect" to talk about my journal article "Building Bridges: Toward Constructing a Christian Foundation for Inter-Religious Relationships in the Shift from Religious Privilege to Spiritual Plurality," I wrote for Missio Apostolica last year. 

In the podcast we talk about my "six steps to encountering the religious other" and I go back-and-forth with Andy who has a more outspoken and assertive style. 

If you don't have time to listen to the whole episode, here's a synopsis. Basically my point is this -- given the religious pluralism we live in, it is necessary that faithful, missional, Christians reconsider their foundational theology concerning other religions and worldviews and begin constructing a revitalized and benevolent approach to the “religious other.”

This paper is an attempt to not only outline the facts, trends, and philosophy of religious pluralism, but also sketch a blueprint for a friendly, missionary, encounter with other religions founded on God’s Word a six-step process for better engaging with individuals from another religious point of view. It draws on the Scripture passages above and from my own experience as a ministry leader and interfaith activist over the last decade. The process is not meant to be comprehensive, but a sketched blueprint for your own constructive efforts as an individual or, as I suggest, as a congregation.