Authentic Dialogue
For as long as I've been involved in ecumenical dialogues - both interfaith and intrafaith - one issue I've been extremely concerned about has been the inclination for dialogue partners to remain at the comfortable level of superficial pleasantries and convenient alliances.
Beyond establishing friendship within such contexts of dialogue, I've often felt that authentic friendship also involves mutual searching for truth (however it is defined), together with mutual help rendered in one another's search. This is something I have, rightly or wrongly, observed to be largely absent in most dialogues.
I'm delighted to have come across Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran clarifying the following:
Interreligious dialogue is certainly a bridge-building exercise. […] It includes creating harmony in society, encouraging development of friendship and spirit of tolerance. But it goes beyond the niceties of polite conversation which encourages people to stay where they are and avoid talking about the grey areas of disagreement. It is a journey in search of the truth.
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Comments (1)
I too have observed the same. On those rare occasions when this hasn't been the case it was when the participants had common questions to which none of them had good answers.
This led to a change in the attitude of the participants from what can I teach, convince, argue or demontrate, to what can I learn, assimilate, internalize or change.
The difference is staggering. What you described is an exercise in frustration and inertia. What we want is an exercise in spiritual growth.
Posted by Russell Ashbaugh | April 28, 2008 11:22 PM