Challenge of interfaith dialog in globalization era

Challenge of interfaith dialog in globalization era

Benny Susetyo, Jakarta

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi of Malaysia has said that
the world is now seriously in need of establishing an interfaith
dialog in the struggle for peace and justice, and should not
remain in a state of continuous conflict that could lead to more
acute differences. "It is this interfaith dialog that the world
needs most of all today," he said in his address to the
conference of the World Council of Churches (WCC) held in Kuala
Lumpur on Aug. 3, 2004.

Badawi's statement is in tune with the world's most pressing
need currently. We have witnessed how dialogs have often ignored
various problems that the world is confronted with, ranging from
interfaith to interstate relationships. As a result, it is more
often the case that the differences become increasingly acute.

When, for example, terrorism is deemed to be the common enemy
of the world's nations and therefore poses a serious threat to
the harmony in the international community, the old paradigm is
still employed to solve this problem, namely the paradigm of
violence against violence. A dialog is very hard to pursue
even though those fighting terrorism tend to be considered to
have greater democracy than other nations.

The world's annoyance with terrorism has not manifested itself
in the form of self-correction, i.e., by nations asking
themselves why the terrorists have launched their attacks, but
rather by seeking new ways in which terrorism can be eliminated.
In reality, it is public knowledge that the world comprises good
and bad guys and that the bad guys cannot be completely routed.
What is feasible is to direct them in such a way that they will
not become destructive. It is impossible to eliminate terrorism
if the root cause is religious fundamentalism, which is the
reality today. Terrorism can only be stopped if the objects of
terror come to realize what they have been doing wrong. The only
thing that is possible to do in this context is to hold a dialog!

A dialog, as Badawi has noted, is necessary for a world that
is currently facing a host of problems. A dialog is very
important in dealing with the arrogance of global capitalism,
which has often sidelined issues of humanity. Its import is also
felt when common humanity no longer forms part of the principal
viewpoint of advanced countries when looking at poor countries.

Badawi is correct when stating that a new way of looking at
human beings is now needed. A human being is not merely an
economic or production factor. A human being must be treated in a
way that takes account of all of his aspects. Humanity is the
basic paradigm for togetherness in developing harmonious
relationships between advanced and backward groups, rich and the
poor states, the majority and the minority, and the oppressed and
the ruler. It is in humanity that human beings can find the roots
of true togetherness.

It is also humanity that will supply the foundation on which
an interfaith dialog can be built, something which, alas, is
easier said than done. An interfaith dialog will develop and hit
home if its orientation is geared toward the problems that
mankind is facing today.

In this age of advanced communications, the world has
undergone a shift in actual orientation, with the values of
togetherness being sidelined for individualism. This change has
eroded further our orientation toward humanity. Each community is
inclined only to think about its own interests, its own religion
and its own group. It is easy to guess, therefore, that this
inclination will strengthen personal, religious and ethnic
sentiments.

This reality has made it difficult for an interfaith dialog to
be useful in solving global problems, such as the destruction of
human civilization that has led to greater alienation on the part
of human beings in their relations with themselves and their own
environment. The environment is no longer a peaceful place where
you make your home because the soil, the water and the air have
been polluted and contaminated by physical as well as non-
physical waste. Brotherhood is no longer part of our lives in
establishing relations with our fellow human beings. Relations
are based only on money transactions and power. Just like in the
old days, when a human being was like a wolf to his fellow human
beings, the survival of the fittest is the law that still
prevails today.

Paul F. Knitter has proposed models of humanitarian dialog
that are linked to the human plight, namely, the economic,
ecological and educational problems that have devastated mankind.
Knitter encourages religious people to use these dialog models so
that they will be able to keep themselves informed about these
problems of humanity.

Such dialogs are possible only when a religious community
establishes an egalitarian, not hierarchical, community. A
religion that claims the sole truth cannot overcome the global
problems now sweeping across the entire world. A religion must
acknowledge that it is not perfect and that it needs to forge
cooperation with other communities, such as intellectuals,
cultural activists, politicians and economists.

It is now time for religious communities to discard prejudices
against people of other faiths. A self-interested orientation
will only remove the role of the religion as a community of those
who make "a final decision". Each religion must move to respond
to the increasingly complicated problems of humanity. Obviously,
what Badawi has said is connected with the hope that religious
communities will build synergies in discussing legislative
products that run counter to humanity.

All religions must feel called upon to jointly rethink their
tasks, namely, to respond to ongoing problems facing mankind in
an effort to save the world from its own collapse. Religions must
unite to think about new alternatives for the establishment of a
new world order. The present order is one of injustice and
exploitation, and has led to the emergence of religious
radicalism.

Radicalism can be properly dealt with only when religions can
formulate common ethics that are concerned with the values of
togetherness geared toward the empowerment of the poor and the
oppressed. Poverty is the common enemy of religious people.
Poverty has made human beings unable to deal with global
competition.

It is at this juncture that a religion must throw away its
doctrinaire attitude and give up its claim to truth. A religion
must assume a more prophetic attitude with regard to the
complicated problems that human beings are confronted with in
their lives. This acknowledgement is important to ensure that a
new world may be established, one that is free from prejudices
toward other people.

Ultimately, we all should contemplate Karl May's words: "It
turns out that I have all this time lived amid a terrible plague
and the cause is a prejudice."

The writer is cultural observer.