Inter-Faith Dialogue

[Jamie123]

Most (but not all) people seem to support the idea of "inter-faith dialogue". Even back in the 1970's I remember my Humanities teacher saying how he was interested in learning about different religions because being a Christian himself piqued his curiosity about what other people believe. He later became a monk (or so I'm told).

But there are definitely a few people (Mormons, Evangelicals and others) who sneer at the idea of "dialogue". They "know" they have the truth, so why should they have the slightest interest what anyone else thinks?

I'm not like this myself, but I don't think it does any harm to consider why we should converse with people of other faiths. Many people of the "anti-dialogue" lobby would (I believe) reduce it to the following list:

1. Idle curiosity, which can only lead to a weakening of our own faith.

2. (Possibly allied with 1.) We are unsatisfied with our own belief-system and are looking for something new. ("The grass is always greener...")

3. We think that the other religion is wrong and we want to save the people in it.

4. (Sometimes under the guise of 2. or 3.) We are trouble-makers, looking for people to ridicule.

But what other reasons are there?

[skippy740]

There are also those who are not secure in their faith, or just don't want to entertain a possibility of being swayed from what they know to be true.

This is the same reason why we have our kids attend church - even if they are invited to other churches by their friends. We don't want them to become confused.

As they grow up, their mental programming hasn't or doesn't change from their childhood - so they don't want to think about what other churches believe.

I think it's more out of a sense of faith preservation, instead of desiring to remain in ignorance.

Just my opinion.

[Jamie123]

There are also those who are not secure in their faith, or just don't want to entertain a possibility of being swayed from what they know to be true.

This is the same reason why we have our kids attend church - even if they are invited to other churches by their friends. We don't want them to become confused.

As they grow up, their mental programming hasn't or doesn't change from their childhood - so they don't want to think about what other churches believe.

I think it's more out of a sense of faith preservation, instead of desiring to remain in ignorance.

Just my opinion.

Thanks Skippy - though that's more of a reason not to be interested in dialogue. I think it's very true - pastors of very strict, conservative churches like to protect their congregations from the ideas of the unwashed liberal riff-raff (like me!) who don't believe in a literal 6-day creation or that Charles Darwin was the devil in disguise. And it does make some sense: Though we might theoretically admit we could be wrong, life's too short to analyse everybody else's perspectives before making our own choices. And we need to do the best we can in the limited time we have.

On the other hand, if every non-Mormon thought that way, no one would ever open the doors to the missionaries...or (for that matter) put their trust in Moroni's promise...

Edited June 6, 2011 by Jamie123

[prisonchaplain]

I grew up around friends who were Jehovah's Witnesses. So, informally, I suppose I engaged in a lot of interfaith dialogue with them. In my particular ministry, it is useful to learn of other faiths, and it's far better to learn from the actual source, rather than through the filter of groups who are critical. The most benign purpose of such efforts would be to share my faith, and perhaps dispel some myths and misunderstandings. At the same time, I would hope to learn what "the other" actually believes. For example, from my experience at this site, I have become rather disappointed with some of my evangelical bretherens' rather shoddy efforts to explain your faith to us. :-)

[MrShorty]

I'm not quite sure if you are looking for reasons to engage in inter-faith dialogue or reasons not to. I'll put both:

Reason to avoid "inter-faith dialogue:" Too often, it seems that "inter-faith dialogue" is synonymous with "let's see if your debate skills and logic will stand up to philosophicial rigor." I know enough of myself to know that, while I know enough to understand for myself how to defend a certain position, my debate/rhetorical skills are very weak and I will lose any "debate." I figure this scenario is what apologetics is for, and I'm not an apologist. So, when "inter-faith dialogue"="debate," I don't want to be deeply involved.

Reason for "inter faith dialogue:" 1) To learn truth from whatever source. I believe the LDS church teaches the "fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ." But, for whatever reason, I find I learn pieces of the gospel better when taught by someone outside of the LDS church. I almost hate to admit it, but I feel like I was best taught about the centrality of Christ's atonement by an evangelical Christian. I'm not sure why, but Christ's atonement didn't become personal for me until that discussion. Sometimes we just need an "outsiders" view to help us see something clearly.

[LDSJewess]

I don't think there should even need to be a reason as to why one chooses to engage in interfaith dialogue.

Why not just for the sake of broadening ones mind and for the sake of education?

If a person is not strong in their particcular faith then it is up to them to search the scriptures and to pray. That is exactly what Joseph Smith did when he was not feeling so sure about what church he should join.

I find that when people are ignorant of the facts of other religions then they tend to draw conclusions that are not even true about other religions. And then the differences seem so diverse as to cause contention and even bloody wars.

When people have religious dialogue it helps to gain a better understanding of each other amd helps people gain a better respect for each otther.

If a person is weak in their faith and can be easily swayed from one church to the next, then they would not be of much benefit to the church anyway. They would just be people filling a pew on a Sabbath morning.

[Jamie123]

I'm not quite sure if you are looking for reasons to engage in inter-faith dialogue or reasons not to.

I'm not necessarily looking for either - I'm just interested in what people think about it. What you see is very interesting :) For some time now I've been thinking that Mormonism and Mainstream Christianity are not so different as certan people make tham out to be.

Krister Stendahl (who was a Lutheran bishop) said that there were three principles to abide by in inter-faith dialogue. Firstly learn about a religion from the people themselves, not from their critics. Secondly, don't compare your best with their worst - compare their best with your best. Thirdly, leave room for "holy envy" (by which he meant it's OK to admire aspects of religions which are not your own).

I've tried to apply these principles on this site, and my knowledge of LDS is certainly a lot different from what it was 2 1/2 years ago when I first came to this site.

[LDSJewess]

I'm not necessarily looking for either - I'm just interested in what people think about it. What you see is very interesting :) For some time now I've been thinking that Mormonism and Mainstream Christianity are not so different as certan people make tham out to be.

Sounds good to me. I'm Jewish by heritage and culture and joined the lds church a number of years ago. I will always admire things in the Jewish religion and stioll to this day celebrate some of the holidays and attend synagogue on special occasions, bar mitzvah's and community events.

One thing I always liked about Jewish culture regarding interfaith dialogue, is that they very much welcome dialogue and encourage people to question everything. Also they do not prosyltize and have no interest in converting anyone to Judaism. If someone wants to convert to Judiasm and embrace the religion they are actually encouraged to study but highly discourraged to convert until they are sure of their decision on their own free will and not because someone else convinced them to make such a decision.

Also Jews by birth (heritage and culture) that convert to other religions are no ostracized from the Jewish community. They are not considered "apostates" rather Jews that are not practicing Judiasm (the religion).

I think because of this it invites interfaith dialogue and helps to deepen a better understanding among humanity.

I think dialogue is very healthy and positive so long as it is respectful dialogue and not a debate that causes contention. The best way to enter dialogue is to create an environment of mutual respect from the beginnign and not converse with the sole intent of trying to impise your religion on others.

[prisonchaplain]

Also Jews by birth (heritage and culture) that convert to other religions are no ostracized from the Jewish community. They are not considered "apostates" rather Jews that are not practicing Judiasm (the religion).

I have seen something quite different. It may just be my unusual interaction with rare and odd Jewish people. However, it was explained to me that observant Jewish parents would much rather their children declare themselves atheists than, for example, converts to Christianity. The reasoning is that a Jew who becomes Christian not only denies his faith and heritage, but breaks the commandments by worshipping other gods.

I am aware of an anti-missionary site (Jews for Judaism), and you have previously posted that most Jews are skeptical of evangelical Christians because of missionary activity. It may be that some families are permissive and tolerant, but I've seen the pressure placed on those with Jewish heritage who become Christian.

[Dravin]

Curiosity and mutual understanding (as opposed to misunderstanding and caricature) is reason enough for me to be curious about others beliefs. The thing is for me it's an intellectual desire, much as I might be curious about how alligators survive in the wild, or the history of Dublin.

[lyolee]

Most (but not all) people seem to support the idea of "inter-faith dialogue". Even back in the 1970's I remember my Humanities teacher saying how he was interested in learning about different religions because being a Christian himself piqued his curiosity about what other people believe. He later became a monk (or so I'm told).

But there are definitely a few people (Mormons, Evangelicals and others) who sneer at the idea of "dialogue". They "know" they have the truth, so why should they have the slightest interest what anyone else thinks?

I'm not like this myself, but I don't think it does any harm to consider why we should converse with people of other faiths. Many people of the "anti-dialogue" lobby would (I believe) reduce it to the following list:

1. Idle curiosity, which can only lead to a weakening of our own faith.

2. (Possibly allied with 1.) We are unsatisfied with our own belief-system and are looking for something new. ("The grass is always greener...")

3. We think that the other religion is wrong and we want to save the people in it.

4. (Sometimes under the guise of 2. or 3.) We are trouble-makers, looking for people to ridicule.

But what other reasons are there?

Jamie123,

I am only a guest at this point, but The Bible/The Book of Mormon combination is an unbeatable one. It has been truly an eye-opener to blend with Bible only folks (non-LDS).

lyolee.

Edited June 7, 2011 by lyolee

[lyolee]

This is certainly a forum of major possibilities I think.

[lyolee]

I grew up around friends who were Jehovah's Witnesses. So, informally, I suppose I engaged in a lot of interfaith dialogue with them. In my particular ministry, it is useful to learn of other faiths, and it's far better to learn from the actual source, rather than through the filter of groups who are critical. The most benign purpose of such efforts would be to share my faith, and perhaps dispel some myths and misunderstandings. At the same time, I would hope to learn what "the other" actually believes. For example, from my experience at this site, I have become rather disappointed with some of my evangelical bretherens' rather shoddy efforts to explain your faith to us. :-)

prisonchaplain,

I have run accross rather shoddy efforts to eplain "faith" in general, let alone one that is fairly new to those religions of a european back-ground and historical history. I might think that the european based baptist or catholic would find the LDS a truly envigorating freedom from/of "beliefs". Because it truly is.

lyolee.