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The Vicar and the Imam

23/11/2016

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We’re now in the throes of Christmas advertising even though it’s five weeks to Christmas – not too early to be doing Christmas shopping, I suppose. This Sunday begins the Christian season of Advent which is a time of preparation for Christmas – not only materially but also spiritually.  For many Christians an advent wreath, symbolic of the unity of God, helps with this preparation. On each of the four Sundays of Advent a candle is lit as the date draws nearer. This symbolises the coming of light into the world in the person of Jesus. Christmas is the Christian festival of light as is Diwali for the Hindus and Hanukkah for the Jews.  These festivals tend to come at the darkest time of the year and have the same basic message of hope and courage in the face of darkness – and there’s plenty of that in the world today.

One of the things that exercises many Christians is how to focus on the religious meaning of  Christmas and not get too caught up in the razzmatazz and commercialism of it all. Many will give simple presents or even make donations to some charity and decry the materialism. While I have a lot of sympathy with this I actually quite like the commercialism and the sense of festival around – though admitting that to purists can be quite difficult sometimes. I like the lights and the glitter and I find it strangely moving to overhear people on their phones asking advice about what so and so would like as a gift.  There’s a lot of love around even though I’m keenly aware of others who’re not so fortunate and for whom the whole family atmosphere intensifies their lack of family, friends, home, shelter, safety or whatever. It’s good to remember this side of Christmas or any family festival in any religion, for that matter. Not only does it give an opportunity to show hospitality to others  but it  gives a balance to our own celebrations – let’s not go over the top.

The problem with the disassociation of Christmas from religion is that people, who either don’t know or have forgotten Christmas’ real meaning, can go over the top and they’re encouraged in this by all the advertising that goes on – some of it obviously costly. A favourite advert from what I can gather is John Lewis’. I’ve heard people comment on how good it is this year – the best ever I heard someone say. I’ve now seen it and it’s good in that it’s about animals (always popular for adverts) enjoying a trampoline set up as a gift for the daughter of the family. But it’s been trumped (!), if I can use that word to mean outdone, by Amazon Prime’s advert. This shows a vicar and an imam enjoying a cup of tea over a friendly chat and, being of a certain age,  finding it difficult to rise from their chairs when it’s time to go. The upshot is each buys the other an identical present - some kind of knee support – bought of course on Amazon and sent by Amazon Prime. The last scene is each of them on their knees in prayer, helped by the gift from the other. It’s a great message of interfaith friendship in spite of the commercial overtones. I’d love to know who designed it. It’s now a hit on social media and I saw a comment which asked ‘is this for real?  Well, yes it is. Interfaith friends might not be buying one another identical presents but they are sharing time and tea with one another. They can hardly go to prayer without thinking of one another. For anyone who doubts this, information about the many events that took place across the country last week during interfaith week shows that interfaith is alive and well. It’s bubbling away in unexpected places and witnessing to the many ways in which people of faith are united in their humanity, respecting diversity and building bridges across traditional divides. 
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What I like about the advert is that the interfaith dimension is just taken for granted – yes, used for a commercial enterprise but a good understated image which I think will get into people’s psyches. It’s a good example of how the media can communicate good news. In Scotland the theme for interfaith week was religion and the media. There were many events around the theme, some of the media took up the challenge and wrote articles about it or included it in magazine programmes.  What tended to come over was how ready the media is to publicise bad religious stories and ignore the good stories. BBC Scotland even had its own event – Meet the Producers. It’s important to have religious programmes and the BBC has announced it’s going to make sure that minority faiths have more coverage – to the consternation of those who think a public media should be secular. What I’d like, however, is the integration of religion, religious values, religious ideals into programmes dealing with social issues – even into ‘Soaps’. There tends to be a custom of talking to religious people when there is a religious issue in the news or some islamophobic or anti-Semitic incident. Programmes such as this put religion into a box and separate it from ordinary life. What would be nice is to include some religious vision, teaching and scripture into discussions on social issues such as the environment to show that there is a wisdom in religion that has a message for all. I know that many secularists would agree with some of this teaching if they didn’t identify it with a religious system they were prejudiced against. What would be nice is to include religious people in dramas who are normal and not caricatures of the worst of narrow-minded, out of touch, old fashioned kind of  people. Why should it not be shown that religious people struggle with the same kind of issues as do those who are not religious and that religion and the support of a religious community can in fact be supportive and meaningful.  This could be much more challenging than a programme focussed on religion and witness to the reality of religion in people’s lives, much like the Amazon Prime advert which gets my vote for the best Christmas advert ever. 

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Interfaith Week

13/11/2016

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Today begins Interfaith Week in the United Kingdom.  Groups all over the country will be hosting interfaith events to bring people closer together, to foster mutual understanding, to celebrate difference and to encourage a sense of common civic identity. In Scotland the week has traditionally been around 30th November, the feast of St Andrew and Scotland’s national holiday to emphasise a common citizenship while recognising different religious, ethnic and cultural identities. This year Scotland is joining the rest of the United Kingdom and celebrating it a bit earlier.  More than fifty interfaith events are advertised which is not bad for a country of only five million people and, no doubt, there will be other smaller events by people who have not registered their events with Interfaith Scotland.  The week has become quite a highlight in the interfaith calendar. Hopefully it pinpoints the good work that goes on all year round and opens it to a wider audience.  I’m hoping that the work we in the Catholic Church have done with pupils from our schools will bear fruit in interesting projects. I know one school has already prepared an interfaith video for use this week.

There will be many different kinds of events – some looking at serious issues, some dialoguing about scripture, some meeting over a meal, others engaging in some kind of social action and others just about enjoyment as in the family fun day being organised here in Glasgow.  The events will probably cover what we think of as the 4 kinds of dialogue – living with one another as good neighbours, serious theological discussion, a sharing of what it means to be a believer and engagement in social action.  All of these are important though sometimes there is a debate within interfaith circles as to whether side by side or face to face activity is better. It’s true that some people are drawn to one approach rather than the other but if common activity (the side by side approach) isn’t based on dialogue which leads to a common agenda then it isn’t a true interfaith activity and if it doesn’t lead to dialogue there’s a chance that it won’t make much of a contribution to mutual understanding and respect for one another’s faiths.

Some of the events this week will be of the kind that Fiyaz Mughal called kumbaya events – something I spoke about in my last blog. I rather liked the phrase and thought there was some truth in it but a friend took me to task over it.  This is what he said :
         "To my mind the expression kumbaya religion is a teeny bit belittling and a teeny bit dismissive, because it suggests interfaith meetings are only of value when they tackle difference or problems or things like that. But most day to day encounters between friends are pretty mundane and run-of-the-mill,and if that’s how interfaith meetings appear then maybe at least it’s an indicator that a meeting of friends is going on! - maybe polite and unchallenging, but better than not meeting at all.”
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He’s right of course and I do believe this and I’m reminded of Pope Francis comment when he met the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar University that the meeting is the message.  Interfaith relations are built on good solid friendships which can only be developed over time. They require a certain amount of patience and while on the surface some of the encounters might be mundane or simply celebratory more is happening within the encounters and within the individuals taking part than maybe they realise.  I still meet people who have never met a person of another faith, or talked to a person of another faith or shared a cup of coffee with them.  Any event, no matter how small, that allows for this is breaking down barriers and sowing seeds of peace. It takes a long time in a friendship before we are able to be honest and challenging with one another. Friendship is a journey. It begins very often with small, tentative steps and requires commitment of time and energy if it is to succeed and deepen. Interfaith friendships, like all friendships, are a great gift.  While allowing us to share our own perspective their true worth is letting us see the world from another perspective. They are powerful relationships which can promote mutual human flourishing and offer a locus for honest dialogue about the so-called difficult questions.

So this week, as many different kinds of events are taking place, there will be a movement towards greater understanding and appreciation of the other, even if this is not too obvious in the event itself. There’s no knowing how people who participate will be affected by what, for some, will be their first step into the interfaith world. Those who simply hear that there is an interfaith week will be aware that there are places in society where religions can and do get on with one another in spite of the bad publicity which focuses on the contrary. I am reminded of the image of the iceberg which has become a favourite of mine. There are many problems facing our society, reflected in the tip of the iceberg which is above water.  Underneath the water is a massive berg which is only kept in existence because of the temperature of the water.  If the water were to get warmer the iceberg could melt.  Not everyone is able to or wants to engage in the presenting issue which, in my case, is religious conflict and disharmony, but everyone in their own way can contribute to the change in temperature in our culture which will bring about the transformation of the issue.  Kumbaya events might not tackle the tip of the iceberg directly but they surely can contribute to the transformation of the culture in which we all live. This will be happening slowly but surely as Interfaith Week progresses.

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Kumbaya Religion

4/11/2016

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It’s said that a week’s a long time in politics. Sometime it seems it’s a long time in interfaith relations and I feel a bit like that this week. There seems to be such a lot going on and sometimes too much to take in with not enough time for reflection.  The last week for me began with a blog written by the director of Tell Mama which suggested that the interfaith world had become over-populated with organisations that are supported by government as a way of helping social cohesion and integration.  Fiyaz Mughal was talking about the impact of social media’s habit of spreading anti-religious hatred and publicising community conflict which no amount of interfaith events seem to counteract. Coming together for a photo opportunity or, I would also say, sign a common statement, is what he calls ‘a model of ‘Kumbaya’ interfaith work – something that is not the answer to current crises and concerns. For him interfaith work is irrelevant – a good challenge to someone like me who spends so much time in interreligious dialogue and loves it, hoping it’s doing some good in our world.

But I do recognise there is some truth in his words. I’ve been thinking recently about the number of interfaith events that are advertised here in Scotland, particularly with Scottish Interfaith Week coming up. I pass these on to my contacts but how are they to choose which ones to go to and, as they are often one off events, I wonder if they bring about the kind of change of heart necessary for peace in our world. Do people truly encounter each other so that their prejudices are challenged and fears confronted?  Well certainly it’s better that people of different faiths meet with one another and know one another than live in their isolated boxes.  But I do hope it results in good friendships which can witness to the possibility of good interfaith relations and counteract the hateful messages on social media while at the same time being able to talk about the difficult issues. These events are a way in to interfaith relations but I sometimes find myself getting tired with ‘kumbaya’ events and often go just to support the body organising it. I’m much happier with opportunities for real dialogue which allow us to get beyond surface niceties and begin to talk honestly about what we call the difficult questions.

This week I was also contacted by a Jewish friend about the resolution passed by UNESCO to designate the Temple Mount in Jerusalem as a Muslim site. How could the Jews connection with the Temple be denied and why weren’t Christians criticising this resolution as they too have a connection with it as the place where Jesus went to pray. The Temple Mount is so called because  two Jewish Temples were built on that site. The Western Wall of the Second Temple destroyed in 70 AD is possibly the holiest site within Judaism and the place where people gather to pray individually and collectively. Jerusalem and the Temple are so central to Jewish liturgy and ritual as well as Jewish theology that to deny the Temple Mount as having nothing to do with Judaism seems incredible. The resolution was not passed unanimously. There were a number of abstentions, some opposition but the nations who voted in its favour were all Muslim countries. This is  a kind of sacrilege  - using a holy place for political ends.

The Temple Mount is a holy site of Islam, known by them as The Noble Sanctuary, Haram al-Sharif. The Dome of the Rock is  built on the spot where the Prophet Mohammed was taken up into heaven during the Night of Ascent and along with the  Al-Alasqa Mosque is considered the third holy place within Islam.  Here is a holy spot, considered sacred which means that it speaks to the three religions’ relationship with God and yet is caught up in political controversy and the Israel/Palestinian conflict. It’s probably been a pawn in a struggle about ownership which has lasted since the Muslim conquest of Jerusalem in the 7th century through the Crusades to the present conflict.  But it is a holy place which should be a point of contact and communication between Christians, Jews and Muslims. Shame on UNESCO for ignoring or denying this and adding to the conflict by making Jews feel unacknowledged in their own State. Shame on UNESCO for making the decision as to who holy sites belong to because if they are truly holy they must belong to everyone. Perhaps UNESCO needs to do some research into what holy sites mean.  Here is a topic for one of those hard discussions that might move us beyond ‘kumbaya’ dialogue to a dialogue that can make a difference. It shows how important it is that interfaith dialogue must move beyond the local to the international and to international groups such as UNESCO.

There have of course been protests against the resolution. Ban Ki-moon, the outgoing secretary general of the United Nations has issued a rebuke accusing UNESCO of a revisioning of history which he says “will only feed violence and radicalism.” The friend who alerted me to this problem subsequently wrote with news that Pope Francis had criticised the resolution but I can’t find any  reporting of this on the web. The Pope has recently expressed his belief in the right of the State of Israel to exist. He believes in a two state solution to the Israel/Palestine conflict. He works for reconciliation but there is no sign of a public condemnation of this decision. I only hope that something is happening behind the scenes and that a focus on the religious nature of the sites might help bring about a new resolution that will at least begin the journey away from hostility, which can only mean a step towards peace
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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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