The world's religious rivals do converge when it comes to ethics, but they diverge sharply on doctrine, ritual, mythology, experience and law.
These differences may not matter to mystics or philosphers of religion, but they matter to ordinary religious people.
The notion of religious tolerance assumes differences, since there is no need to tolerate a religion that is essentially the same as your own...
What we need on this furiously religious planet is a realistic view of where religious rivals clash and where they can cooperate...
Both tolerance and respect are empty virtues until we actually know something about whomever it is we are supposed to be tolerating or respecting.
Abbot Kyogen Carlson of Dharma Rain Zen Center and Dr. Paul Louis Metzger of The Institute for the Theology of Culture: New Wine, New Wineskins at Multnomah Biblical Seminary of Multnomah University discuss why they value dialogues between their seemingly disparate communities. |
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"Radical Collaboration" is personified in Rabbi Ted Falcon, Pastor Don Mackenzie, and Imam Jamal Rahman - collectively known as The Interfaith Amigos. In a time when religion appears to be at the heart of fragmentation, suspicion and conflict, their friendship is a beacon to a wiser, more compassionate, and hopeful path.
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Nouman Ali Khan is a wonderful and insightful teacher with many videos available on youtube.
One is this lecture on one of the most misunderstood ayat of the Quran. He shows how you must consider the whole context of an ayat to understand its meaning.
(Note all his videos start with Arabic but soon continue in English.)
For a collection of his talks at the Islamic Circle of North America conferences, click here. |