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Original Sin??

27/3/2023

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If there’s one teaching I would like to change in Christianity it’s that of original sin. This is the teaching that tells us that human beings have inherited the sin of Adam and Eve, our first parents, and as such are born in a state of sin which separates them from God and from which they need to be delivered. And the way to be delivered is to believe that Jesus has redeemed them from this sin through his death and resurrection and in believing this be baptised into the Christian church where alone resides salvation. It sounds like a good marketing technique. Convince people that they are inherent sinners and then offer them the cure which then bolsters membership of the church that first convinced them of their sinfulness in the first place.
 
Christianity is not the only religion to use this technique. Buddhism also does something similar. When the Buddha proclaimed his four noble truths, his dharma, he did so by setting it out as though it was a doctor’s diagnosis.  First, there is the illness and in the Buddha’s case this was dukkha, usually translated as suffering, understood as dissatisfaction, impermanence. All life is temporary, the good as well as the bad. Things change and this is the nature of reality.  The second truth is the cause of this suffering and for the Buddha this originated in the greed and the misplaced desire which leads us to want to cling to what we have, the ignorance that sees life as substantial and permanent as well as hatred of others and of all sentient beings. The third truth, the cessation of suffering, affirms that the cure for this is to extinguish desire and liberate self by not becoming attached to what is impermanent but accepting reality as it presents itself moment by moment. This can be a moment of enlightenment and liberation and can lead eventually to freedom from the cycle of rebirth that all sentient beings are caught up in. And the final truth is the path to end this human suffering called the eightfold path to enlightenment. This is a way of practice which covers right intentions and livelihood, the correct understanding of the nature of reality, meditation and compassion. For the Buddha what was important was discovering the truth of his teaching through the experience of practice, (which is found within Buddhism) not through accepting his word for it.  
 
What I don’t like about Christianity’s approach is its association with dogmatic belief rather than practice and the consequences of this through the centuries. The foundational story to support original sin is in the Book of Genesis where Adam the first man and his wife Eve are forbidden to eat the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge at the centre of the garden of Eden. Eve is tempted by a snake to eat the fruit followed by Adam and as a consequence they lose their place in paradise. Adam’s punishment is to till the earth and Eve is told that God will greatly increase her pangs in childbirth and that her husband will rule over her. For centuries this story was taken as literal. Eve was blamed for tempting her husband to sin and so women were seen as temptresses, inclined to evil and to be controlled by men. The pains of childbirth were women’s rightful punishment and so literally was this taken to be the case that it was still being debated by obstetricians and others whether women had the right to anaesthetic help during childbirth in the 20th cy.  Then there was the tradition of “churching”, a private ceremony where a new mother would receive a blessing from a priest in church which, though meant to be an act of thanksgiving, was associated with the Jewish tradition of purification, and thus associating childbirth with impurity.
 
Augustine of Hippo, who lived in the 5th cy CE is the one often associated with original sin and its connection to baptism though it wasn’t formalised in the catholic church until the Council of Trent in the 16th cy. For Augustine human beings were born in a sinful situation and incapable on their own of changing this. What was needed was God’s grace given to them at baptism and without that they would be denied heaven if they died before baptism so better to have infants baptised than wait until they were adult and able to choose for themselves. This too has had its consequences. A superior understanding of Christianity vis a vis other faiths and ways of life as possessing the truth and the only way to salvation and eternal happiness led to forced sermons, forced baptisms, conflict and violence as well as the killing of people not of the Christian faith – and in time not of ‘my’ Christian denomination. It even led to a belief in a place called limbo – a place of natural happiness where unbaptised babies would go. They would be happy but not see the face of God. I have met mothers distraught at this thought and now it seems nonsense, against any belief Christians might have in the goodness of God. Nor is it possible to look upon the face of a new born baby and see it as disordered. 

All of this and there is more seems nonsense to me now. Thank goodness, limbo has been quietly dropped and the reading of the creation story as a myth says that it is not so much about original sin as original blessing, about a world and the creatures in it which are basically good even though we do have the tendency to sin and do wrong and in that sense we are sinful and ignorant and greedy. But we also have the possibility to striving to be otherwise and both Christianity and Buddhist offer a practice to help us in this – I just wish Christianity made more of its practice than it did of its doctrines which so often can bind rather than liberate us.  

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Engaged Religion

4/3/2023

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Religion and its place in society has been up for discussion these last two weeks after one of the candidates hoping to be elected First Minister of Scotland admitted that she was not in favour of same-sex marriage, the birth of children outside of marriage and abortion. She has faced a rash of criticism and much antagonistic questioning of her position by political commentators and journalists who suggest she is unfit for public office, particularly that of First Minister and is against the liberalising agenda being promoted by the government and party of which she is a member. She has affirmed her commitment to following the law and would not let her personal views interfere with that.  For some this hostility is seen as misogyny (especially as one of the other candidates is a Muslim and likely to have similar views but not undergone similar scrutiny), or religious intolerance or a kind of liberal totalitarianism that demands everyone accepts the prevailing view. Even for those of us who are not in public office there can be a tension between a personal morality and what is best for society. Many Christians I know would be against abortion and see it as wrong yet accept abortion legislation for the sake of the safety of women who otherwise might seeks back street abortions which often led to the death of those seeking to terminate their pregnancy, often because of poverty, poor housing, and large families.

In a sense I think the Christian churches that have been so dominant in society until recently are still feeling their way as to how they should communicate with the secular. It’s no longer enough, I think, to repeat Christian morals without dialogue about what is best for society and why we hold the views that we do. Religious people need a new language to communicate with a secular world in a meaningful and relevant way. Jonathan Sacks was particularly good at this. He knew how to share religious ideas and translate them into a language that was accessible to those who were not of his faith. Not only is this approach important for society but it is also important for religion. Religious beliefs and morals have developed over the years and been influenced by the times and cultures in which they were articulated.  It’s important for religions not to get stuck in the past but to constantly dialogue with contemporary culture, including science, psychology, sociology etc and to reflect on how their faith might relate to the present. It’s this that keeps faiths fresh, innovative, and relevant. 

It’s easy to think of religion and society as being in opposition, especially over moral issues, doing battle for what they think is best.  Perhaps it’s important to keep in mind that all of us – or at least those of goodwill – are wanting what is best for society and if we are to achieve that then there is a need for dialogue and engagement, listening to one another and considering one another’s point of view. This of course takes time, something that public bodies and politicians are not good at. But Jonathan Sacks was good at it, and we could all learn from him. In a tribute to him after his death in 2020 Rabbi Gideon Sylvester said “Rabbi Sacks searched the modern marketplaces to uncover how people think and speak. His sensitive listening enabled him to create discourse around morality which his audience could relate to without ever feeling that they were being preached at, patronised or missionised.”
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An alternative to this engagement and sensitivity to society at large is to withdraw from it and live in a sheltered community cut off from interest in and discourse with the world. Religions have been doing this for centuries. It’s how religious life started with the withdrawal of men and women from the empire to focus on faith and spirituality in the Egyptian desert. When I joined religious life there was a sense of leaving the world to live a truer and more spiritual life. It happened to groups such as the Puritans, the Amish, the Mennonites who sought freedom from the state church of Europe and established communities and churches of their own with a strict but peaceful and simple way of living. It so happened that the Mennonites were on my mind as the debate about religion and society was going on.  I had recently seen the film ‘Women Talking’ based on the book of the same name by Miriam Toews and was reading another book by her called ‘A Complicated Kindness’. Both deal with situations within the Mennonite community and show the harm that rigidity, isolation, conformism can do to a community and to personal development.  This is not the way forward for religions. Religions like other aspects of life are evolving which will mean struggling with new situations and viewpoints but also offering something, hopefully wisdom, to the evolution of society as we try to learn what it means to live with one another and form the bonds of kinship that will help us work together for the common good.
 

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Human Fraternity Day

12/2/2023

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 Last Saturday, the 4thFebruary was International Human Fraternity Day. It comes during UN Interfaith Harmony Week and celebrates the signing of the Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together by Pope Francis and the Grand Imam from Al-Azhar University, Ahmed el-Tayeb on 4th February 2019. The document has caught the imagination of many people and has led to the setting up of the Higher Committee on Human Fraternity, composed of Christians, Muslims and Jews and was
 
Since the signing of the document in 2019 the Scottish Catholic Bishops’ Committee for Interreligious Dialogue and the Ahl-al Bait Scotland Society have worked together to understand and reflect on its implications for good interfaith relations. In the first year we read it together and discussed its relevance. In 2021 we had a conference at which Sheikh Shomali and Cardinal Michael Fitzgerald, spoke on and responded to the document. Last year we focussed on the question of women as one of the issues worth pursuing. This year we thought we would try something a bit different from a speaker followed by questions and discussion. We decided that a workshop that would engage participants in considering how the document related to interfaith relations would be worth a try. So, we invited three members of the planning group to say three things that stood out for them in the document. This was then followed by three open questions: The challenges in society that particularly concern me as a person of faith are …….; The challenges facing interfaith relations are ………….; As a person of faith and someone interested in inter-religious dialogue, the ways in which we can foster fraternity and help us live well together are …... Each participant then finished each of those statement in their own way in a time of quiet reflection which was then followed by group sharing, with each group then suggesting three points they would want to share with the whole group which was 50 -50 Christian and Muslim.  
 
What I liked about this process was that it engaged people throughout the two hours. There was no time to be bored and there was much to ponder and consider. For me it was important to reflect a little on the nature of interfaith relations and the place of interreligious dialogue within that. The two are not the same thing. Many people talk of interfaith dialogue or interfaith relations, but the Catholic Church has a dicastery for interreligious dialogue. The Human Fraternity document, which was signed in the name of God and suffering humanity, covers a broad sweep of social issues which is something that we have come to expect from Pope Francis. It is truly aspirational and envisions a world free of poverty, violence, injustice, inequality  etc and recognises the importance of faiths working together to establish this. My question in the planning and organising of this event was, what is the contribution of interreligious dialogue to this work and vision – what we Christians call the Kingdom of God.

 I was one of the contributors to the initial 5-minute input and focussed on three words. One of those words was unproductive.  The document supports and encourages dialogue. It suggests that in the way of peace and justice we need “the adoption of a culture of dialogue as the path; mutual cooperation as the code of conduct; reciprocal understanding as the method and standard”. But it also talks of transmitting the highest moral virtues that religions aim for and avoiding unproductive discussions.  How do we avoid these? Can interreligious dialogue and conversation ever be unproductive?   I do believe that interfaith dialogue is a worthwhile activity in itself. It is a contribution to peace and a witness that friendships across divides are possible. But I sometimes wonder if those of us who are engaged in interfaith issues sometimes find ourselves in dialogue about matters in which we have no expertise just because we are interfaith activists. Should there be a difference in our conversations as people of faith from that of a social action group?  What we want is that social action, justice and peace groups develop an interfaith approach to their work, working alongside others interested in the same things from different faiths and none.  This is what Jonathan Sacks called ‘side by side’ engagement and the focus is on the issue. What of us, however, who are involved in interreligious dialogue which suggests the other kind of engagement which Sacks called ‘face to face.’  Do we have a special and unique contribution to make, not just to mutual understanding and respect but also to social issues? What is ours to do as people of faith and what is ours not to do?  Jonathan Sacks says that it is knowing what is not ours to do that is the mark of a great leader.
 
The feedback from the groups of course showed a great variety of responses, including the importance of working together on issues such as climate change but also the need to understand and value the religion and cultural heritage of others and the ability to dialogue with each other with humility and a willingness to learn from another’s religion in a way that will enrich our own faith tradition and take us out of our comfort zone. There was still a call for education about other faiths – “we lack understanding of the other, we need more dialogue. This will add to respect for each other and overcome being prejudiced about other religions”.  There were a number of good ideas, covering interreligious, face to face dialogue as well as interfaith engagement. Hopefully these will find their way on to the website of the Bishops’ Committee – www.interreligiousdialogue.org.uk and help us know what is not ours to do as much as  what is ours to do.


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An Ordinary Person

27/1/2023

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Today is International Holocaust Memorial Day, the day when we remember the 6 million Jews murdered by the Nazis in their desire to eliminate all Jews from Europe.  The Jews were not the only ones targeted. Other groups were also regarded as racially and socially inferior such as the Roma and Sinti people, black people, people with disabilities, gay men and Jehovah witnesses. They too experienced horrific persecution by the Nazis. But it was the Jews who were targeted for complete genocide. The systematic plans to eradicate them all from the whole of Europe and the calculating way in which these plans were drawn up and the gas chambers constructed is chilling. Chilling because all of this was planned and carried out by ordinary men and women. It's easy   to think that we would not be capable of such things but if one human being can do it, we all can do it – we all have the potential within us to perpetrate evil, to collude with injustice and violence in different subtle ways and to standby and watch it happen to others without interfering or standing up for justice, possibly out of fear for our own lives or a sense of powerlessness. 

The 27th January was chosen as Holocaust Memorial Day as it was that day in 1945 that the Russians liberated Auschwitz – Birkenau, the largest of the Nazi concentration and extermination camps which is not too far from Krakow in Poland. Approximately 1.1 million men, women and children were murdered there, over 90% of them being Jewish. It was only then that the depth and horror of the Nazi atrocities was understood. I cannot imagine what it was like for those liberators and the realisation of what people had been made to endure  must have stayed with them forever. I have been to visit Auschwitz when I was with a group of Christians and Jews visiting Poland to reflect on the absence of Jews in a country that had a strong and thriving Jewish community. The visit to the death camp was chilling and sobering. I had always imagined that a place like Auschwitz would have a sense  of evil around it but in fact it was beyond evil and  the horrors of it hard to believe –but  the proof was there before our very eyes. And these were ordinary people – the ones murdered, the ones carrying out the murders and all the others who made  the functioning of such places possible.

HMD was set up after 46 governments signed a declaration in Stockholm on 27th January 2000. committing those present to preserve the memory of those killed in the holocaust. It’s purpose is that we should never forget the depths of that barbarity in the hope that such things would not happen again. And yet they have. There have been subsequent genocides – Rwanda, Cambodia, Bosnia, Darfur and also the violence that is recognised as ethnic cleansing perpetrated against groups such as the Uyghurs in China and the Rohingya in Myanmar. The world has not learned the lessons of the Holocaust. Rather it would seem that the Holocaust showed just how cruel human beings can be to one another and unleashed that potential into the world – a bit like Pandora’s box.    

The theme of this year’s HMD is Ordinary People. Yes, ordinary people can perpetrate great horrors, ordinary people can stand by and do nothing, but ordinary people can also do extraordinary things in surviving genocides, telling their stories and working for justice. Here in Scotland we have a woman who was not Jewish but who died in Auschwitz and as far as we know is the only Scot recognised as one of the Righteous of the Nations in Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. Her name is Jane Haining. She was born in 1897on a farm on the  outskirts of  a small village in Dumfriesshire called Dunscore. She was educated at Dumfries Academy where she was awarded 41 prizes and became Dux of the school in her last year. After school she came to Glasgow, took a business course and worked in the clerical department of J&P Coates in Paisley. Jane was always interested in young people, she was a devoted member of the Church of Scotland and in 1932 responded to an advert for the post of matron in the Girls’ Home at the Scottish Mission to the Jews school in Budapest.  She was responsible for about 35 girl boarders and tried to give them a safe and happy environment while away from home. She loved the work and her charges and feared for those of them who were Jewish in the light of the anti-Jewish laws being passed by Hitler in Germany.  When Germany annexed Austria in 1935 more refugee Jewish children were housed at the mission. The second world war started while Jane was on leave in Scotland but she returned to her post and refused to leave it even after the Nazis invaded Hungary. Shortly after that Jane was arrested and transported to Auschwitz, where she died on17th July 1944.
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For the past 30 years Hungary has organised a national essay competition to reflect on the impact of the life of Jane Haining. The top three winners come to Scotland each year, visit Dunscore and other places associated with her life and work. Yet she is until recently little known in Scotland, certainly not the way she is known in Hungary. We aim to rectify that and I am working as part of a group organised by the Council of Christians and Jews to organise something similar to that carried out in Hungary. I hope we will be successful and that this ordinary woman who did an extraordinary thing will give us hope and inspiration to also stand up for those who are marginalised and discriminated against.

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A Star to Live By

9/1/2023

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 Today is the feast of the Epiphany when Christians reflect on that episode in the Christmas story that tells of wise men coming to visit the stable in Bethlehem and bringing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to the infant Jesus - 3 regal gifts that have led to the interpretation that they were 3 kings though this is not stated in the story as set out in the gospel of Matthew. At least that’s the case in the western Church for Eastern Orthodox Christians the 7th of January is a celebration of the birth of Jesus with Epiphany being celebrated 12 days after on the 19th of January which should give us a clue that the date is not to be taken literally.

I always feel a bit sorry for these wise men as there is, for me anyway, a feeling that Christmas is over by the time we’re hearing their story. I have a nativity set at home (made from recycled paper), which I display over Christmas – it has a figure of Mary with child Joseph, an angel and three kings who are positioned at the side of the main characters as though on a journey but since my nativity set is put away with the Christmas decorations the wise men never arrive. We do hear of them of course in some of the Christmas carols that are sung over the season, and they have certainly taken hold of the Christian imagination that sometimes depicts them as kings and imagines three of them though that’s not stated in scripture. We know very little about them but as with all scripture the point is not so much what is said about them but what their significance is in the Christmas story and what message this might have for us.

The symbolism of the story of the wise men can only really be appreciated in what we know about the life and death of Jesus and the impact he had after his death. It takes us away from any sentimental devotion to Christmas being about baby Jesus but rather reminds us of who and what Jesus is within the Christian tradition. The men from the east remind us that though Jesus was Jewish, his message came to have a universal appeal and took devotion to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob beyond the bounds of Judaism into a gentile world.  The gift of myrrh, a resin uses in embalmment is a recognition of his death, the gold a recognition of his kingship and lordship over all and the frankincense a recognition of his divinity. This is the Jesus who is celebrated at Christmas.

Two elements of the story are interesting and worth reflecting on – the star that was the inspiration for the wise men setting out and the journey to find what they were searching for. All of us are on a journey, a journey that will have its ups and downs, its light and shadow, its obstacles and advantages, its helpers and hinderers, all made worthwhile by the sense of purpose and meaning we bring to it.  Religion has traditionally seen itself as giving this sense of purpose, offering its adherents a practice and way of life that makes the journey meaningful. It offers a final reward, which either in a paradise or heaven or as an escape from the round of rebirth is realised beyond this human existence. There are of course other goals such as working to promote the kingdom of God or the kingdom of Shambhala, as some Buddhists would say, to serve others, make our world a more just and equitable place to live.  

Perhaps we all have our own stars that lead us forward and give some direction to our lives and some may be less noble than others. What is it we want to achieve in life – riches, happiness, health, a long life, power, my way of doing things? Religions I like to think offer a noble direction in that all of them have something to say about love, compassion, wisdom, justice as a way of living. But what about those who have no religion? Here in Britain the results of the recent census reveal that for the first time there are more people who see themselves as nonreligious. What is the story they live by, what is the journey they are on, what is the star that guides them?  Some religious people decry this move to and shake their heads at the thought of a world without meaning and spirituality. But surely this cannot be so. Just because people no longer affiliate with a religion does not mean that their lives are selfish or lacking in love and concern for others. It does not mean they do not have a philosophy by which they live their lives. It might mean that the religious story no longer makes sense to them, and religious people might just have to accept that without judging them. Perhaps we need a new story which unites us all, religious and non-religious.
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I think there is such a story and it’s one that I have become increasingly interested in. It’s the story of the universe which is also the story of humanity. We now know that out of the mysterious order of reality, from which burst forth a great fireball of creativity, evermore complex forms evolved until we humans were given form at this point in history – the “most recent and youngest extravagance of this stupendously creative universe” as the cosmologies Brian Swimme describes us. Each of us carries within us the whole history of evolution. We are made not just of the dust of the earth but of star dust itself. We are empty of any discrete separate existence but are interrelated and interconnected with all of life – our life is one of interbeing as Thich Nhat Hanh would say.  And as such we have great potential for the future of our world and our race.  We can help it achieve love, harmony and peace or we can undermine it. I do believe that if we talked more about this common story that unites us all we would have a star to guide us towards the fullness of life and inspire us on how to live and cope with our journey through life whether we be religious or not. I also think that religions, particularly my own, would be made more relevant by taking this universe story seriously and reflecting on its articles of faith in the light of this story. It’s a story that gives hope not just to our world but also to our religions. We need more of it.


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Festivals of Light

19/12/2022

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The Late Lord Jonathan Sacks likened the multifaith society to a hotel with different faiths and cultures living in fairly close proximity but keeping to their own separate communities. Just as in a hotel visitors could pass one another in the corridor or even share a table in the dining room and be civil to one another yet be living quite distinct lives so too in society. Communities tend to keep to themselves and live quite separate lives.  Society is, as King Charles has described it, a community of communities. There are many kinds of communities, of course, in which we find our sense of belonging – family, professional and social associations of one kind or another. In the past, if less so in the present, religion has given people a strong sense of identity and belonging and for immigrants a sense of security in a strange land. Traditionally religions have been suspicious of one another which is something the work of interreligious dialogue tries to overcome.

Religious communities are now more open to inviting other faiths to celebrations of their faith, especially during festivals. In many places non-Muslims are invited to break the fast at least once during Ramadan and this week I joined the Jewish community for the lighting of the first Hanukkah candle. The service was in Hebrew so I couldn’t follow the exact wording of the prayers or readings but the service was led by a minister with a lovely singing voice so it was easy to get caught up in the atmosphere and simply enter into the beauty of the chants, remembering that they would have been sung for centuries and that I was participating in a revered and ancient tradition. I also knew the story of Hanukkah, how the Maccabees had cleansed the Temple in Jerusalem from desecration and how oil that should have lasted for only one day did indeed last for 8 days once it had been reconsecrated. Hanukkah is a minor festival and yet an important one as it celebrates religious freedom and, as the minister leading the service said, it gives us the confidence to dream and to believe that our dreams can be fulfilled. So, I was able to get some meaning out of the service.

Part of the tradition is to put a hanukkiah – that is an 8 branched candlestick by a window – with one candle being lit from what is called a helper candle on each day of the 8-day festival. It’s a public witness to the hard -won freedom of the Jewish people to practice their faith without fear of persecution. Religious freedom and respect for religious identity are important human rights but unfortunately ones denied many people in over 20 countries and growing antisemitism in the west has led to some people being afraid to identify themselves as Jewish, even to the extent of not wanting to display their hanukkiah. However, within the community Hanukkah is a festival of light full of family fun, games, and gifts much as Christmas is for Christians. When I worked in teacher education, I often took my students to visit the Jewish primary school some time before Christmas to give them an insight into another kind of denominational school. They were always a bit surprised to find the school alive with rehearsals for hanukkah plays, hanukkah decorations and preparations for hanukkah parties in the same way catholic schools would be celebrating Christmas.  At our celebratory meal after Sunday’s hannukah service there was even a hanukkah hat and a few hanukkah jumpers!

Christmas too is a festival of light and it takes place in the darkest time of the year. Recently a Muslim friend asked me if Christians really believed that Jesus was born on the 25thDecember. Well, there may be some people think that, especially if they take the story and the words of the traditional carols sung at this time of the year literally. I once told a class of students that I was rather tired of hearing in some lessons that Jesus had been born on Christmas day i.e.25th December. One student protested! No, Jesus was not born on 25th December – we do not know when he was born. Christmas day is the day we remember the birth of Jesus and celebrate it, but in a spiritual way. In fact, not all Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus on Christmas day. Some do this on 6th January. It’s possible that the date of 25th December was borrowed from the Roman mid-winter celebration of Saturnalia and the feast of Sol Invictus (the Unconquered Sun) to christianise the pagan feast and show Jesus as the true Light of the World.   

The hymns and carols of Christmas tell the story of his birth in an imaginative way. The stories of his birth in scripture are not literal or historical documents but myths in that they point to the meaning of Jesus expressed in stories that often reflect Old Testament prophecies. My friend was relieved to hear this and suggested that many Muslims don’t recognise Christmas. Even though they respect Jesus as a prophet, they think that Christians are wrong in thinking Jesus was born in wintertime because the Qur’an tells us quite clearly that Jesus was born in the summer and in the desert.  

Within the context of interreligious dialogue can I tell my Muslim friend that he is wrong, and can he tell me that I am wrong to be celebrating Christmas when I do? Can we respect one another’s traditions and accept that as a Christian I am not likely to accept his view and as a Muslim he is not likely to accept mine - and do the differing views take us a bit further in understanding the reality of Jesus?  Perhaps but only if we can dialogue about it and surely that’s what we must do.

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A Light in the Darkness

4/12/2022

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At present Christians are keeping the season of Advent. The first Sunday begins the new year of the Church’s liturgy.  It’s a time of preparation for Christmas with time to reflect on the meaning of Jesus and his message. Much of the readings come from the Jewish prophets which reminds us of our rootedness in the Jewish tradition. Central to the message of Jesus is the Kingdom of God that he declared was within us and amongst us. It so happens that I was asked to give a gospel reflection on the readings for Tuesday in the second week of Advent. Central to the readings was the idea of the Kingdom of God.

The first reading from the prophet Isaiah talked of God as a powerful and victorious King who has subdued all things under him and brought his people out of exile, back to their land. Yet the reading ends with the idea of God as a shepherd, leading his flock to rest and holding them close to his breast – a much more tender image.
These contradictory images reminded me of a story, a prophecy in fact that is 700 years old.  It comes from the Tibetan tradition and was written in the 12th cy.  It is the story of the Shambhala Warrior, and it goes like this.

“There comes a time when all life on Earth is in danger. Barbarian powers have arisen. Although they waste their wealth in preparations to annihilate each other, they have much in common: weapons of unfathomable devastation and new technologies lay waste the world. It is now, when the future of all beings hangs by the frailest of threads, that the kingdom of Shambhala emerges.

"You cannot go there, for it is not a place. It exists in the hearts and minds of the Shambhala warriors. But you cannot recognize a Shambhala warrior by sight, for there is no uniform or insignia, there are no banners. And there are no barricades from which to threaten the enemy, for the Shambhala warriors have no land of their own. 

"Now comes the time when great courage is required of the Shambhala warriors, moral and physical courage. For they must go into the very heart of the barbarian power and dismantle the weapons.  
 For this they must go into training  -   and how do they train?

"They train in the use of two weapons, the weapons of insight and compassion, insight to recognise everyone as their brothers and sisters, compassion to feel the pain of the world and respond with love.” 

 Part of the interfaith journey is to be able to see our own faith and tradition with new eyes and to deepen our understanding of it. The story of the Shambhala warriors helps me look at Jesus’ teaching about the Kingdom of God in a new way. Like the kingdom of Shambhala, the Kingdom of God is hidden, yet everywhere. But it can be spotted. It can be glimpsed wherever there is love and compassion. It can be seen in people who feel the pain of the world and work for justice, in those who care for the environment, those who care for the sick and the homeless, in parents caring for their children, in those who are simply good neighbours.  The kingdom is all around us if we have but the eyes to see.  

 Christians are called to live in this kingdom. We are called to be a leaven in society, to contribute to its transformation by the way we live and the values we live by. We are warriors, soldiers, if you like, for the Kingdom of God. We are called to participate in the transformation of a world that seems caught up in individualism, consumerism, competition, violence, and greed.  Pope Francis has called this the revolution of tenderness. And by tenderness he means “using eyes to see each other, ears to listen to the children, to the poor, to those who are afraid of the future, to the silent cry of our common home, of our sick and polluted earth.”

What the Pope is advocating is a way of insight, opening our eyes and being aware of the reality in which we live. And he wants us to respond with tenderness and love which he says is the source and the meaning of life.  And in doing this each and every one of us can become a bright candle, a reminder that light will overcome darkness and be a sign of hope for the world today. This is the meaning of Christmas and the lights and candles associated with it.
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Pope Francis spoke about this revolution of tenderness at a TED talk given to business leaders on zoom and pointing to the screen he said “a single individual is enough for hope to exist, and that individual can be you.  And when there is one you, there will be another "you," and another "you," and it turns into an "us."   Hope begins with one "you." When there is an "us," there begins a revolution.
 
And surely this revolution has already begun with all those, religious or not, who love tenderly and seek justice. There is hope for our world.


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An Interfaith Champion

15/11/2022

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The interfaith community in Scotland has lost a friend and champion in the death of Archbishop Mario Conti on 8th November. Archbishop Mario had an open ecumenical outlook from his early years and for decades was involved in the ecumenical movement which, in 1990, gave rise to a new ecumenical instrument called Action of Churches Together in Scotland.

He came later to the work of interfaith relations when in 2006 the Bishops’ Conference set up a committee for interreligious dialogue and he became both President and chair. At first, he was cautious, asking for advice and help in how to address people of other faiths, what was appropriate dress, what was expected when visiting places of worship etc. but he embraced the whole interfaith adventure as he had done the ecumenical one and soon felt at ease in his relationship with people of other faiths. This was because of his innate charm, friendliness, and out-going manner which drew people to him and made them feel at ease in his presence. He was loved within the interfaith world and many of our sisters and brothers in faith have phoned, texted or emailed to express their deep sorrow at his death and to pass on their condolences to the catholic community.  All of them mentioned his charm, friendliness, wisdom, and clarity of thought.

Hospitality was a hallmark of Archbishop Mario and for many years, indeed until Covid stopped it, he hosted a reception for faith communities which was not only well attended but was considered an important event in the interfaith calendar. He was often advised at these gatherings not to let them go. Archbishop Mario was quick to accept invitations to visit places of worship, to meet with faith communities, to talk at important events such as the 200th anniversary of the birthday of Bah’a’ullah, to meet visiting dignitaries and to engage in dialogues such as the current one the committee for interreligious dialogue has with Ahl Al Bait Scotland, a Shiah Muslim group. Together we have studied the document on Human Fraternity for Peace in Our World and never did Archbishop Mario come to a meeting of that group unprepared. He was supportive of all the work of the committee and contributed to our annual colloquium which was intended to educate the Catholic community in the faith of others as well as interfaith issues. As well as this he participated in national interfaith events such as Holocaust Memorial Day, the twice annual meetings of the Scottish religious leaders Forum and the First Minister’s Annual Interfaith Symposium. His contribution was greatly respected, especially if he spoke his mind and was not limited by a government agenda.

Archbishop Mario was a good friend to me, both as an individual and as the secretary for interreligious dialogue for the Scottish Bishops. He supported me in good times and was always there to lend a listening ear and offer advice in difficult times - and there were some of those. We attended many events together and never did he fail to thank me or fail to show his appreciation for my work and contribution to interfaith relations in Scotland. We had good conversations, not always agreeing but respecting one another and his sense of humour made him very easy to be with.  He has now entered the realm of the ancestors and has joined a small body of people who have gone before us in Scotland and continue to give those of us involved in interfaith relations the confidence to continue in their footsteps.
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May his memory be a blessing to us all and an inspiration for the future of interfaith work within the Scottish Catholic Church and this nation. 

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What's the Point?

31/10/2022

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I was recently privileged to hear a talk on Forgiveness in Judaism given by Dr Yakir Englander. It was part of a programme organised by the Sisters of Sion whose mission is to develop an understanding and appreciation of Judaism and to witness to ‘God’s enduring love for the Jewish people’. It was an interesting, informative, and challenging talk given by someone who is obviously a man of love and compassion, committed to non-violent social change and, as the director of Kids4Peace in Israel and Palestine, he is a committed peacebuilder. It was quite a surprise to hear him say at the beginning of his talk and repeat it during the talk that he did not believe in interfaith dialogue. Immediately he clarified that statement saying that he didn’t believe in dialogue for dialogue’s sake but believed in it as a means for action. This is not an unusual stance and it’s one I’ve often heard put forward by other people, especially it so happens from the Jewish community including the late Lord Jonathan Sack. But it’s not one I can agree with.
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For me dialogue can be an action for peace, especially if the dialogue is between groups who have been suspicious of one another or even rejecting of one another. I was brought up in a Scotland that was highly sectarian. I grew up as a catholic, thinking everyone who wasn’t catholic was protestant and, as the only catholic family in our street with no one else going to church, I thought protestants never took their faith seriously. I even thought that protestants, having separated from the true church were destined for eternal damnation. Those days are over because of Christians from different denominations meeting one another, learning about one another, visiting one another’s churches. We recognise that together we are Christians before being catholic or protestant and are in a familial relationship with one another.
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If this is true within one religion, it is even more true for people from different faiths. There’s no need, I think, to rehearse the sense of fear and suspicion many people have of Islam, seeing it as a religion of violence, spread by the sword; the belief among Christians that Jews had crucified Jesus and therefore had been rejected by God; the understanding of Hinduism as polytheistic. And many more misunderstandings which over the centuries has led to violence and destruction. And how do we overcome these misunderstandings which lead to prejudice and even hatred of one another? I once heard someone say there is enough religion in the world for hate but not enough for love. Dialogue, friendship, sharing stories so that we no longer think in terms of Judaism but in terms of my friend Adam who is Jewish, my friend Azzam who is Muslim is surely a way to transform past toxic relationships into relationships of friendship. This is to realise that we belong to a great family of faith, in which we are all united in our humanity with different paths in our common search for value, meaning and purpose in life.
 
I was privileged to begin my journey into interreligious dialogue at a time when I was en gaged in religious education. This was in the 1970s when the RE curriculum was changing to include world religions. This meant I had to teach other faiths, read their scriptures, visit places of worship with students. I had invitations to events such as weddings and other rites of passage. John Dunne, a catholic theologian, has described this as passing over into the world of another and returning home to fine oneself changed. This is not an unusual experience for those of us who have lived in or travelled to another culture. We often learn more about our own culture as a result of that experience. For me this passing over will not happen simply by working together, important as that is. My interest in world religions has led me to experience in a limited way but a real way, I think, the the spirituality of others and this has deepened my own spirituality. I have come to see my own Christian a and catholic faith in a new way. I have come to see what is essential to that faith and what is a cultural expression of it. I have learned not to ask of any faith, is this true but what is the truth in this. I have been helped by the beauty of the Hindu Upanishads, inspired by the Jewish belief in Tikkun Olam, encouraged by the Islamic belief in surrender, changed by opportunities to make retreats with great Buddhist masters such as Tich Nhat Hanh – and much more.

I feel interfaith relations have opened up my vision of what it is to be a believer in our world today and I feel freer because of that. This of course has also involved me in working together with others and something that binds many of us who have now become friends is our desire for peace and harmony in our world. I hope and believe that the friendships, understanding and respect that has been developed between people of different faiths in pockets all over the world is a witness to what is possible in a world and society where differences still divide rather than unite.



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An Interfaith Pioneer

10/10/2022

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There was a real sense of celebration last Sunday, 2nd October, when the St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art held its first interfaith event since the closure of the museum during the Covid pandemic. Glasgow City Council had suggested that it might not open the museum again but rather it would seek ways of finding another promoter such as Historic/Environment Scotland to take it over. There was an outcry from all those who appreciated the importance of the Museum, particularly the faith communities who for decades had found it a safe space for dialogue. The campaign, spearheaded by Interfaith Glasgow, led eventually to its opening which in itself was a cause for celebration. This first event, focussing on the life of Stella Reekie and the work of the International Flat, brought together 69 people, many who had worked with Stella in Glasgow, some who had worked with her in Pakistan and some who knew very little or nothing of her life and work. There was a lot of buzz, chatter, laughter as people renewed friendships and shared memories. The event captured the spirit of The Flat, even to the extent that we had to buy more cake for tea.

The reason for the focus on Stella Reekie was that this year, 2002, was the 100th anniversary of her birth and the 40th anniversary of her death and it seemed an appropriate moment to remember and celebrate her. Stella was born on 29th July 1922, the youngest of eight children in Gravesend, Kent and died in Glasgow on 28th September 1982. Her life had been one of service. As a young woman she had joined the Red Cross so that she could work with refugees in Europe. It was this that led to her being present at the liberation of Bergen – Belsen, something she never talked about, but the horror of that experience must have seared her soul. That and the experience of working with refugee children caused her to reflect on the inhumanity of life without Christ and, as she herself admitted, it was this that led her to sail from Liverpool in 1951 to join the Church of West Pakistan.

There are many stories about her work in Pakistan – her popularity and readiness to help with all sorts of problems, her wonderful capacity for communication even when her understanding and knowledge of Urdu was rather shaky, her work with women and children, her indefatigable visiting of homes and villages and something that seems to have characterised her all her life – her ability to exist on little sleep. There were two colleagues from Pakistan present at our celebration in St Mungo’s. One had been a Pakistani pastor with whom Stella worked closely and the other a Scottish missionary also in Pakistan at that time. She told a story of how she would visit Stella in Gujerat, and Stella would always drive her to the bus for her journey home. The only flaw in that plan was that Stella was always late because she was busy about many things but insisted on the lift. This then meant Stella driving at breakneck speed after the bus until she had overtaken it, causing it to halt so that her friend could then board it.

After seventeen years as a missionary Stella returned to Scotland and was eventually employed by the Home Board of the Church of Scotland as a community worker, working with the large number of immigrants who had come to Scotland in the 1950’s and 60s, mostly from India and Pakistan. It was at this point she became a deaconess, working in community relations from her own home in Belmont St. Glasgow. In 1972 she went to live in 20 Glasgow St. which had been bought by the Church of Scotland as a centre for her work. This then became the International Flat, a centre for immigrants, especially women who at that time had little opportunity for life outside the family. She organised English classes, cookery and sewing classes, meals for the wives of overseas students, summer play schemes for children in the area. She helped the new Scots cope with the bureaucracy involved in finding accommodation, employment etc. She welcomed everyone to the Flat which became a centre of hospitality and developed friendships which, as our celebration showed, have stood the test of time.

Most of the people present at St Mungo’s on 2nd October had known Stella through the International Flat and her work in establishing the first interfaith group in Scotland. Stella was convinced that new citizens would only be accepted and integrated into the wider community if that community knew something of their faith. So, the Glasgow Sharing of Faiths held monthly meetings when a member of a major world faith would give a talk on their faith, answer questions, provide food and give time for small group discussions. Each year there was a Presentation of Faiths in a prestigious public building for three full days which allowed school children to visit and learn and adults to be entertained by groups such as the Jewish Male Voice Choir. This was a time when the teaching of world religions was being introduced into the religious education syllabus, with very few published resources so the meetings and events of the Sharing of Faiths became a focus for teachers trying to come to terms with world faiths and make contact with places of worship.

Three people, Canon David Lawson, Mrs Brij Gandhi and Mr George Ballentyne, all members of that first Sharing of Faiths committee shared their memories of Stella and her interfaith work. David recalled how he lived very near the International Flat and often, especially after meetings, Stella would phone and invite him round for coffee. Sometimes this was to reflect on a meeting they had both been at and which had reached a decision which was not quite what Stella would have wanted. How were they to put it right? These conversations and coffees lasted into the wee small hours which never disturbed Stella who could exist on very little sleep.

 Brij had got to know Stella through her parents when she visited them from Kenya and was even encouraged by Stella to do some voluntary work in the Flat during those visits. When Brij and her family moved to Glasgow, Brij became a member of the Sharing of Faiths and worked with Stella at the Flat. She remembered how much Stella asked of her even when she reminded Stella that she had a husband and young children to look after.  It was part of Stella’s genius/ charism (?) that she was able to involve people beyond what they were prepared to give and believed possible. As Maxwell Craig, the chair of the Sharing of Faiths said in the booklet published after her death,” That she did so successfully time and time again was part of the miracle”.  

George had become involved in the work of the Flat when he was asked to represent the Glasgow Bahá’ís on the Sharing of Faiths committee. He recalls his first meeting when, as a naïve Baha’i he thought people would respond to his involvement by becoming Baha’is, he found himself siting with someone who had been in the concentration camps; someone who had lived through the Partition of India; others who had endured pestilence, famine, and war – whose faith had been, literally, a matter of life and death for them. While interested in interfaith George expressed his gratitude to Stella who had shown him how to live it. It was her model, her example that set the tone and direction for most of his adult life, right down to the kind of jobs he had done.

This sense of gratitude was echoed by many at the celebration, especially David and Brij as well as Sr Isabel who had chaired this time of remembering. Interfaith had become a spiritual adventure for all of them and they had all been involved in it in some way or other ever since those early days of the Sharing of Faiths. They saw their work as part of   legacy of Stella who forty years after her death was remembered with affection and thankfulness. When Stella died in 1982 the Glasgow Sharing of Faiths was the only inter faith group in Scotland. Now there are 20 local groups, including Interfaith Glasgow, and a national body, Interfaith Scotland, which carry on the work begun by her over fifty years ago. The seeds that Stella sowed then have borne fruit in a way that she probably would not have dreamed of. And for those of us who are reaping the benefits of those fruits and sowing our own seeds of understanding and cooperation, Stella still remains a source of inspiration and encouragement. Her life and influence are a good reminder that many of the seeds which we now sow can bear fruit in a way that we cannot imagine.

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    I am  a Catholic nun, involved in interfaith relations for many decades.  For me this has been an exciting and sacred journey which I would like to share with others.

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