Bishop Chane on interfaith diplomacy

There’s a long interview in the Asian Times today with Bishop John Chane where he discusses his work in trying to create religious dialogue with Islamic leaders.

When asked what he’s learned as a result of his efforts, Bishop Chane responds:

“I have learned about a significant level of fellowship and respect among scholars and clerics of different faiths, sharing broad-based values that intersect between Christianity and Islam, especially Shi’ism. In many ways, Shi’ism is more liturgical than Sunnism. But I have also learned that while we share a lot in common, there are also a lot of differences, and we need to study both more seriously rather than to give in to stereotypes. And we can achieve this through on-going dialogue. Then we can demonstrate by this behavior what diplomats ought to be doing from their perspectives. “

On the issue of religion as a place to find mutual understanding he suggests that we need to step away from using religion as a tool of demonization of the other and recover a mission of using it to bring peace:

A look at the Abrahamic religions, for instance at Islam where salam means peace, and then we realize that religion plays a huge role in peace-making and yet, unfortunately, has been used and abused by just anyone to support their particular point of view. We can eliminate that by becoming far more aware, more literate, about scriptural texts, since illiteracy in texts is a weapon of ignorance, and bigotry, that is utilized to demean and even demonize other communities of faith.

The interview goes on to discuss politics in America and how we are viewed in the world and what the coming American election might bring.

Read the full article here.

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