Is there no end to violence?  Kenya, Pakistan, Syria, Nigeria, Israel/Palestine - the list seems endless.  And  this violence is not as far away as it seems. Here in Scotland family members of a Church of Scotland minister were killed in last week's  attack on Christians in Peshawar.

But this violence is even closer than that.  It resides in the human heart and if it resides in one human heart it can reside in all human hearts.  It is easy for me to see myself on the side of peace, on the side of the victim; to see the victims as my suffering brothers and sisters.  But the perpetrators are also my brothers and sisters and they too are suffering.  They too have a story to tell and somehow must feel that for their own safety and happiness those they see as different and as the enemy must be eliminated.  It would seem that they cannot live in a world of difference, that they cannot respect diversity, that they are unable to dialogue and learn from others, to cooperate with others for the common good of the society in which they live.   

I think many of us will recognise these attitudes in ourselves and in our own communities. Every time we close ourselves off from others we are contributing to suspicion and to violence in our world. Every time we move out from our closed community to stretch out the hand of friendship to others we are contributing to peace not just in our immediate situation but in the world at large.  Each act of friendship is a small step in  renewing our fractured world.  Within Judaism this is called tikkun olam - step by step, moment by moment trying to repair the rifts, the fractures, the divisions of this world which cries out for peace.

But there is another story to tell.  Yes we live in a world which is divided but we also live in a world where people are working for peace, living in harmony and encouraging cooperation between different tribes, nations and religions.  The work of interreligious dialogue often goes unnoticed but it does tell another story and show another way.  Organisations like The Interfaith Network of the UK and Interfaith Scotland promote dialogue and mutual understanding through respecting difference  as do numerous local interfaith groups and interfaith initiatives here at home and abroad.  Interreligious dialogue is a protest movement against the violence in the world today, it subverts the notion that the other is the enemy and shows the world that friendship between faiths is possible.

I am not one for writing to papers or to anyone for that matter but an editorial in the weekly Catholic newspaper The Tablet has so annoyed me that I think I might end up writing to the editor. The editorial talks about the state of the Catholic Church in Scotland in the light of the installation of the new Archbishop of Edinburgh but then goes on to talk about Scotland and it is these remarks which I found quite offensive. 

The editorial suggests that there is an ideological vacuum at the heart of Scottish life and that Scottish separatism is a cause for concern because " it can look like a selfish and materialistic bid for full control of Scottish oil revenues, inevitably impoverishing the rest of Great Britain. if England owned such North Sea oil reserves it would be inconceivable for it to refuse to share its wealth with the Scots. It would be a tragedy if independence merely accelerated Scotland's progress towards an ever more secular and self-absorbed culture".  Surely the editor cannot be serious?  This has a paternalistic and racist tone to it and demeans not only Scotland, Scots but also the whole debate about independence.

An important conversation going on at the moment is  about the kind of Scotland we want to live in.  How is Scotland to live up to those values on the Scottish Mace: wisdom, integrity, justice and compassion?  How is Scotland to be a just and equal society and how can we as both religious and non-religious people commit to the common good? It is the movement for  independence that has allowed us to have these conversations and they are good conversations to have no matter what the outcome of the referendum.  Scotland will be a better society for having been given the opportunity to talk about them. 

The point I really find offensive is the suggestion that to be considering independence is selfish, materialistic and self-absorbed (while England is the opposite of this!)  This, it seems to me, is rather a colonialist and superior attitude and one that has often been found in Christianity's relationship to other faiths.  Interreligious Dialogue has taught me that it is possible to have a strong sense of one's own identity but be open to relationships with others.  This is what I call an open identity and what Brian McLaren calls a strong and benevolent identity.  None of us has an identity separate from that of others.  As I have said before it is the very act of relating that gives us our identity and  any person or nation that thinks it can live in isolation from others is deluded.  To have pride in who we are but yet be open to the world around us and to working in partnership with them is the way of peace. 

Scotland has as much right as other nations to consider running its own affairs but in doing so is capable (and willing) to enter into a relationship with the other nations in the British Isles, Europe and the rest of the world.  Perhaps the editor of the Tablet has done more for the 'yes' campaign than she might imagine or desire.

On Sunday the whole Catholic world prayed for peace at the request of Pope Francis.  He himself led a vigil of over 100,000 people in St Peter's Square and encouraged everyone of good will to earnestly desire and  seek peace.  In his address he spoke about creation and how in the heart and mind of God, our world  is the “house of harmony and peace”, and  the space in which everyone is able to find their proper place and feel “at home”.  His words are a clarion call  and challenge to all whether religious or not.  They are worth repeating.

" ......all humanity, made in the image and likeness of God, is one family, in which relationships are marked by a true fraternity not only in words: the other person is a brother or sister to love, and our relationship with God, who is love, fidelity and goodness, mirrors every human relationship and brings harmony to the whole of creation. God’s world is a world where everyone feels responsible for the other, for the good of the other.

This evening, in reflection, fasting and prayer, each of us deep down should ask ourselves: Is this really the world that I desire? Is this really the world that we all carry in our hearts? Is the world that we want really a world of harmony and peace, in ourselves, in our relations with others, in families, in cities, in and between nations? And does not true freedom mean choosing ways in this world that lead to the good of all and are guided by love? 

But then we wonder: Is this the world in which we are living? Creation retains its beauty which fills us with awe and it remains a good work. But there is also “violence, division, disagreement, war”. This occurs when man, the summit of creation, stops contemplating beauty and goodness, and withdraws into his own selfishness. When man thinks only of himself, of his own interests and places himself in the centre, when he permits himself to be captivated by the idols of dominion and power, when he puts himself in God’s place, then all relationships are broken and everything is ruined; then the door opens to violence, indifference, and conflict". from harmony he passes to “disharmony”? No, there is no such thing as “disharmony”; there is either harmony or we fall into chaos, where there is violence, argument, conflict, fear

It is exactly in this chaos that God asks man’s conscience: “Where is Abel your brother?” and Cain responds: “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” (Gen 4:9). We too are asked this question, it would be good for us to ask ourselves as well: Am I really my brother’s keeper? Yes, you are your brother’s keeper! To be human means to care for one another! But when harmony is broken, a metamorphosis occurs: the brother who is to be cared for and loved becomes an adversary to fight, to kill. What violence occurs at that moment, how many conflicts, how many wars have marked our history! We need only look at the suffering of so many brothers and sisters. This is not a question of coincidence, but the truth: we bring about the rebirth of Cain in every act of violence and in every war. All of us! And even today we continue this history of conflict between brothers, even today we raise our hands against our brother. Even today, we let ourselves be guided by idols, by selfishness, by our own interests, and this attitude persists. We have perfected our weapons, our conscience has fallen asleep, and we have sharpened our ideas to justify ourselves. As if it were normal, we continue to sow destruction, pain, death! Violence and war lead only to death, they speak of death! Violence and war are the language of death!

At this point I ask myself: Is it possible to change direction? .............. Yes, it is possible for everyone! From every corner of the world tonight, I would like to hear us cry out: Yes, it is possible for everyone! Or even better, I would like for each one of us, from the least to the greatest, including those called to govern nations, to respond: Yes, we want it!  ............

  Forgiveness, dialogue, reconciliation – these are the words of peace, in beloved Syria, in the Middle East, in all the world! Let us pray for reconciliation and peace, let us work for reconciliation and peace, and let us all become, in every place, men and women of reconciliation and peace!"

Is the world beginning to listen and will we add our voice and efforts to become men and women of reconciliation and peace?

I am still thinking about identity and the closed kind of identity that  ignores other people, is suspicious of anyone who is different, rejects them and considers them people to be converted, dismissed or overcome. Unfortunately throughout history conversions have been carried out with violence as one religion or another tries to make everyone just like them.  And the daily news gives plenty of evidence of the hostility of one religion towards another.

As babies we are born into a family and a culture that gives us our sense of identity, that teaches us to distinguish ourselves from others, that tells us.  We need this sense of identity for our security and sense of belonging so important to living a life of meaning and well-being. In a way we all start life with a closed identity but life and experience can change this. For me the change came when I studied world religions at Lancaster University and encountered people of faiths other than Christianity.  The obvious goodness of people and the wisdom in their faith was a challenge to mine as I came to realise that living my life in a relatively closed, though loving, community had put limits on my horizons and my understanding of the world and others.  I now had to re-examine my own faith and come to an understanding of it in a more inclusive and expansive way. 

This experience of an old and given identity no longer fitting is a common one and perhaps a necessary experience if faith is to mature. Sometimes people decide to change their identity totally as in conversion though this can simply result in a new closed identity.  But sometimes a person keeps their identity, is secure within it  but has moved from being closed to being open to others, making space and time for them, having concern for their well-being, being willing to engage with them and work together for the common good.  The other is now seen as a friend rather than an enemy, a brother or sister, a 'we' rather than a 'them and us'.   But sometimes this change of identity is viewed with suspicion in our community and that can limit our freedom.  Brian McLaren in his book ' Why Did Jesus, Moses, the Buddha and Mohammed Cross the Road' expresses this perfectly when he says
    " all of us are poised between two dangers. The obvious one is 'the Other'.  The subtle one is 'Us'. If we defend ourselves     against the Other, if we attack the Other, we gain credibility  with 'Us'. We show that we are loyal, supportive, believers,     members of 'Us' and we are generously rewarded and affirmed.  We gain a lot by attacking the Other - in religious                 circles as well as political ones.
    Ironically Us can be an equally  great threat to each of us as does the Other, probably greater.  Us might withdraw its         approval of me. It might label me disloyal, unsupportive, unbeliever, unorthodox, liberal, anathema etc. To be rebuked,     marginalised, or exluded by Us is an even greater threat than to be attacked by the Other."

How true this is.  Interreligious dialogue, standing in solidarity with our brothers and sisters of all faiths is not a mealy mouthed activity but  one that takes courage and integrity.  No wonder it is still a minority sport.