17 October 2019
Interreligious Relations (IRR) Issue 9 – Western Perspectives on Dialogue in a World of Conflict and Violence by Gavin Flood
Abstract:
This paper outlines the conditions that make for a conducive environment for interreligious dialogue to take place effectively. Before arriving at the conditions, it discusses the difference between a religious and a rational cosmological worldview, and religion’s place in the modern world. Though it is not inherent, there may potentially be a conflict between the traditional religious values of participation, hierarchy, and salvation, and the values of modernity including an emphasis on individualism, progress, and equality. Understanding this contestation, which contributes as a cause to religious conflict and violence, also illuminates the ways in which dialogue can be useful in promoting interreligious understanding.
Abstract:
This paper outlines the conditions that make for a conducive environment for interreligious dialogue to take place effectively. Before arriving at the conditions, it discusses the difference between a religious and a rational cosmological worldview, and religion’s place in the modern world. Though it is not inherent, there may potentially be a conflict between the traditional religious values of participation, hierarchy, and salvation, and the values of modernity including an emphasis on individualism, progress, and equality. Understanding this contestation, which contributes as a cause to religious conflict and violence, also illuminates the ways in which dialogue can be useful in promoting interreligious understanding.
