Needless to say, such doctrine can be a complicating factor in inter-faith dialogue. How can dialogue happen between people of differing beliefs, when each believe the other to be wrong, if not damned?
I have had the experience of engaging in LinkedIn discussion groups where this severity of name calling hits the roof when the topic is religion.
The worst I have ever been called in my various business related forms is ‘pinko commie’.
Pales in comparison with the worst I have been called in various religious forums, which is ‘son of Satan’. The latter kills any possibility of further dialogue which until recently convinced me that any God debate is doomed before it starts.
But what happens if the dialogue begins some place other than where we disagree? Like COVID 19 for example.
Last week a bunch of us religious types: Muslim, Christian, Hindu, Jewish and Buddhist got together over ZOOM to talk about how our respective religious communities were dealing with the COVID 19 pandemic.
Some spoke of finding peace in either prayer or meditation to offset the anxieties of job loss and loss of social connection.
Others spoke of reaching out to those in need, whether in distributing food to the hungry or in connecting by phone with seniors who have been house bound and alone for weeks.
Some spoke of the inspiration their faith is to them in troubled times while others admitted to not doing so well despite their faith.
I came away from the experience wanting more, feeling more connected to my neighbour, especially the neighbour whose faith differs from mine.
