An Evening of Dialouge

The Multi-Faith Event: How Good Must I Be? was an evening of dialogue which illuminated the common ethic among the five religion represented at the event. The five religions were: Bahai, Evangelical Chirstian, Hindu, Islam and Judaism. Below are the opening remarks for the event.

The Multi-Faith Events at Canterbury School were started as a result of the Haven Interfaith Parent (HIP) mission statement. The HIP mission statement can be found in your program and it states, The Haven Interfaith Parents support the mission of Canterbury School and encourage an understanding and appreciation of all beliefs and faiths, with the goal of promoting peace in our community. This event is the fifth event sponsored by HIP.

While at a conference in January of 2011 in New Orleans I told about the interfaith work that I have been doing in Fort Wayne. The suggestion was made to change the way I referred to the work from ‘interfaith’ to ‘multi-faith’. After the conference I began researching the difference in these two words. In my searching I came across an article written by Rick Love of Peace Catalyst International. His thoughts on the difference of these two words resonated with me. And as of this past January I changed the name of these events to multifaith from interfaith to more accurately represent what we are doing at Canterbury School. Rick Love has three key points:

• Multi-faith dialogue is based on common ethics and the common good rather than common theology. This has been true of the past events. We have discovered a common ethic among all faiths.

• Multi-faith dialogue expands the conversation to conservatives. In all faiths the conservative people have been reluctant to enter interfaith dialogues fearing they would have to compromise their beliefs. At these events we want each faith to clearly tell us what they believe without having to compromise.

• It allows for “theological exclusivism” while promoting “social inclusivism. These events encourage us to be peacemakers even though we theologically disagree.

When I started my interfaith work I asked a group of Canterbury School parents to join me in this new endeavor. As a follower of Jesus my faith is incredibly important to me. Those I asked to be in the group were people I knew were deeply devoted to their faith. At the interest meeting I discussed my hope for this ‘interfaith’ group. My hope was that the members would be willing to discover what we had in common; they would be willing to listen to each other; they would discuss our differences in a civil manner; and they would do the hard work of being peacemakers. Truly, this is not an easy task. This group met for three years. Through the ground rules the group wrote we were able to find the common ground but we were also to dialogue about our differences. Over the three years each person’s faith was deepened and strengthened. And we became friends. We were doing multi-faith dialogue

Understanding the meaning of words is important, like the words interfaith and multi-faith. During the dialogue with my friends from other faiths I discovered the importance of knowing the meaning of words so we could truly understand each other. During a dialogue we often would use the same word, but the meaning for that word was quite different. Sometimes I took the time to clarify exactly what was meant by a word, but quite honestly, many times I did not. When I failed to have a word clearly defined I knew true understanding had not occurred. It takes time and effort to ensure words are understood correctly. It takes time and effort to have a dialogue. It takes time and effort to be a peacemaker.

With the mission to promote peace, it is dialogue not debate or discussion that must occur tonight. I recently heard someone say dialogue is listening to someone as if your life depended on it. In order to survive everything must be remembered. That is intense listening. When I have truly listened to others I find that they are more likely to listen to me. This is the basis of all relationships. For us to understand each other we must be in relationships and we must listen to each other. There is a passage in the Bible that tells me how to dialogue. I Peter 3:15 states, “Always be prepared to give an answer for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.” It is in dialogue that we can be honest and with gentleness and respect say what we believe. Being in dialogue says we care about the relationship. These Multi-Faith Events are intentionally designed to be a dialogue because I desire for those in our community to be in relationship with each other. This evening I hope you will listen like your life depended on it; that you will leave here with the desire to be in multi-faith dialogue with those in our community and that you will become a peacemaker.

The topic for this event is "How Good Must I Be? The Consequences of My Choices." This topic was chosen as another way for us to learn about each other. After listening to each other we may find that we do not have a common theology but I am convinced that we will find there is a common ethic among all of us.