Let's Talk Religion

by Laura Ellen Shulman Rule #1: We acknowledge the fact that each of us has different views and that each of these views is valid  because  it is meaningful to the person who holds it. Interfaith relations may be considered a challenge to one's faith but one should not run away from such a challenge. Through this challenge we may find that our faith can grow. Many years ago I forced this challenge upon myself. I have made what I consider to be a very rational observation - one which turned me around from believing that my religion was the only right religion to being able to acknowledge that there is truth in all religions: if these other religions have survived for thousands of years and are followed by hundreds of millions, even a billion, people there must be some truth to them or they would not have spread and lasted. We owe it to ourselves to search everywhere for this Universal Truth. This Truth is a message about God in the world that goes beyond the specific language o...

I have been involved in interfaith activities for decades. I have found that the people who most need to hear the message of interfaith cooperation are the ones most closed to (fearful of) it. I figure that those who are against interfaith activities fear that it can lead one astray from commitment to one's own faith. It might lead them astray, or lead them to question their faith, perhaps because, on a sub-conscious level, they fear they are weak in their faith. As a practical response to criticism of involvement in interfaith activities, I might say: "well, no one is forcing you to be involved but I find it personally enriching and no threat to my faith." More typically, I find that people involved in interfaith dialogue are "preaching to the choir." A disdain for religion in general from anti-religion atheists. And a fear of interfaith cooperation by religious exclusivists. "Why are they against this?" may also be a call for us to...