By Robert Traer

You may order this book online. A summary of the contents follows.

The chapters of this book were written over the past seven years and represent my response to the interfaith issues I have experienced. Generally the goals of interfaith cooperation are thought to be obvious by those active in the movement. At times, however, interfaith events seem to provide a forum for religious propaganda and little opportunity to evaluate the claims being made. Often a religious tradition is presented only in terms of its ideals without any acknowledgement of the religious community that has frequently fallen short of these ideals.

Therefore, the first three parts of this book deal with interfaith goals, the limits of cooperation, and with critical reflections on the language used in interfaith activity.

This material includes chapters reflecting critically on two of the most well known interfaith initiatives of the decade—the 1993 Parliament of the World's Religions and the Declaration toward a Global Ethic. I write as a participant in the Chicago Parliament and in several other interfaith events that year and as a member of the Assembly of Religious and Spiritual Leaders convened in Chicago in 1993 to endorse the global ethic drafted by Hans Küng.

Finally, I offer four chapters concerning the discussion with scholars of religion that is related to interfaith dialogue. Those involved in interfaith activities include not only pastors and lay persons of faith from different religious traditions but teachers of the world's religions. The impact on interfaith dialogue of writing about the world's religions has hardly been noted and rarely critiqued. There are, however, important choices to be made.

The preface describes my experience in interfaith work and the issues to be addressed in the book.

REDEFINING OUR GOALS

1. Truth

Interfaith cooperation has long been promoted with the phrase "unity and diversity." The problem with this, of course, is that both terms are ambiguous. We must know what we are united for as well as the diversity that we are to tolerate and perhaps even appreciate. I argue that interfaith activity should affirm the human dignity of each person, leave open the question of "Who is saved?" and encourage forgiveness.

2. Limits

3. Repentance

Interfaith activities often begin with emphasis on the ideals that are shared by members of different religious traditions. I believe there is greater hope in repentance. We might better begin by confessing regret for our individual prejudice and ignorance and for the failure of our faith communities to live up to their ideals. I identify barriers to repentance and affirm the need for faith, if cooperation is to lead to reconciliation.

4. Forgiveness

How are the anger and resentment between religious communities that have been in conflict to be overcome? I suggest that both those who have been wronged and those who have done wrong must be encouraged to embrace forgiveness.

5. Hope

Rather than focusing on problems, interfaith activities should reflect the hope of our faith communities. Examples are given from the Buddhist, Hindu and Christian traditions.

RETHINKING OUR LANGUAGE

6. Avoiding the Interfaith Bazaar

Interfaith dialogue ought not to foster "shopping" the religions by those hoping to piece together a new religious practice or spirituality. Rather interfaith dialogue should encourage participants to speak from the perspective of their diverse traditions in a conversation about living faithfully in the world they share. Interfaith dialogue is not about representing the religions but about seeking what is best through sharing.

7. Faith and Values

Comments about "shared values" are heard frequently today in interfaith contexts. Moreover, there is a tendency to argue for the use of "neutral terms" in dialogue and to view the words and stories of each particular religious tradition as partisan or biased. I argue, to the contrary, that we should speak out of our faith traditions, draw on our particular stories and teachings, and witness to our faith by sharing the prayer and meditative disciplines of our religious communities.

8. Beyond Development

The language of social development has made it hard for Westerners to acknowledge and appreciate the religious and cultural heritage of the peoples living in "developing" or "underdeveloped" nations. A religious vision of the world, on the contrary, emphasizes gratitude, interdependence with all life, and the sacred character of creation. Human rights language, which affirms faith in human dignity, is better at incorporating religious understandings in a view of the world than talk of development.

9. Our Problem Is Sin

Karl Menninger has argued that our social problems cannot be properly understood and addressed with the language of deviancy, delinquency and disease, because this language does not demand anything of us. He suggests that the word "sin" needs to be recovered in order to identify evil actions and moral responsibility. I argue, in addition, that sin is a problem that we, as sinners, can do something about. Seeing ourselves as part of the problem gives us important choices to make.

10. Judgment and Renewal

How are we to address the challenge to renew civil society? I suggest that we need not avoid theological language but, in fact, need to speak out of the teachings and stories that give us hope and allow us to see that we are sinners. The question isn't simply: "What can we do?" The prior question is: "What is God doing in our time?"

11. Creating an Earth Community

How are we to foster social development? In the context of recommending policy to the United Nations, I argue that the stories and teachings of our religious traditions may foster moral and spiritual leadership. I resist the notion that universal and transcendent values can be realized apart from particular and immanent communities of law and faith. I argue that the role of government is enabling rather than prescriptive and that language about an earth community may help to describe the goal we share.

REVIEWING INTERNATIONAL INITIATIVES

12. Culture Matters

What lessons might be learned from the international interfaith meetings held in 1993 in India, Japan and the United States? How have these efforts to promote interfaith cooperation shaped our understanding of the problems we face and the strategies that might prove useful? A close look will reveal that culture matters as much as religion.

13. Humility and Service

In response to questions asked of participants in the Assembly of Religious and Spiritual Leaders I answered that strategies for interfaith cooperation needed to take into account the experience of existing international interfaith organizations. Can there be greater interfaith cooperation? The complementary but distinct activities of the International Association for Religious Freedom and the World Conference on Religion and Peace suggest some answers to that question. Progress may be made through humility and an emphasis on service and solidarity with those who are persecuted. Triumphant statements about interfaith cooperation are to be avoided.

14. A World Interfaith Council

A recurring question is whether there should be a council that represents all the religions in the world. I explore the metaphor of many paths up the mountain in order to clarify the reasons for undertaking such an initiative and the issues that need to be addressed.

15. Support for a Global Ethic

The Declaration toward a Global Ethic deserves critical support. I analyze the language of the document and then enter into a dialogue with several commentators: Muhammad El-Ghazali (a Muslim scholar), the late Cardinal Bernardin, and Archbishop George Carey. I believe the Declaration toward a Global Ethic ought to encourage us to work for more open ethical concepts within our own traditions of faith.

Interfaith dialogue involves persons of different religious traditions in conversation together. Thus, interfaith dialogue should not simply adopt the language of the study of religions, because a focus on personal issues of faith requires more than describing the facts of religious traditions.

17. The Study of Religions

At the opening of the International Interfaith Center at Oxford, Senior Lecturer at Westminster College, Peggy Morgan, presented a critical view of interfaith dialogue. This is my response. She argues for the scientific study of religion and against language, such as the Declaration toward a Global Ethic, which attempts to state imperatives for persons from different religious traditions. I affirm the personal and participatory language of interfaith dialogue and the use of shared ethical imperatives by people of different faith communities.

18. Teaching About Religion

In Britain and many other countries educators support teaching about religions in the public schools as a way of encouraging more tolerant attitudes among students. I question this approach and suggest that including religious events and issues within a history course is a better way of educating our young people.

19. Religion may be Rational

Is religion simply superstition? I argue that living out a faith may be a rational way of relating to the suffering and moral dilemmas of the world.

20. Religion as Source

It is popular to talk and write about religion and some desired goal, such as "religion and human rights" or "religion and world order." The danger in such an approach is treating the faith of people as a resource for the goods we desire. Instead, we need to recognize that religion is the source of the world for traditional cultures and many people yet today. We might well need to recover and renew the world created by the stories and rituals of our religious traditions, if we hope to cooperate with people of other faith communities in the struggle for a more just and peaceful world.