How political should interfaith engagement be?

This week I witnessed two short (very uncontroversial) discussions about the political element in interfaith dialogue. One was about Holocaust Memorial Day, which will be next week, and one about the engagement of faith communities and interfaith organisations against climate change. Having this in mind I want to reflect today about how political interfaith engagement can/should be. I thereby reflect only about the situation in Western democracies. The situation in other kind of states might differ in several points and is to complex to reflect it here.

Interfaith Engagement is always political

The word “political” comes from a time when there existed a lot of different City States (polis) in Ancient Greece. “Political” in its basic meaning is therefore something, that regards the “affairs of the cities” or of the community/society in a specific area.

Interfaith engagement how I experience it here in Scotland has always the aspect of serving the community: It is always about building peace and and a deeper understanding between different religious groups and that is in the end a way of serving the whole community. The Scottish government has realized this and is therefore funding the work of Interfaith Scotland, what I consider as a great example, that other governments in the world (Hello Germany!) should follow!

Furthermore have all the different faith traditions a tradition of political engagement. Be it in the way of building religious dominated states in history or presence or important contacts between representatives of religion and state. That’s completely logical, because the religions claim to be important for the whole live of their believers – and the social/political life is a part of this.

When is political engagement dangerous for interfaith dialogue?

Not every political engagement of partners in interfaith dialogue is good. Should a particular religious group have to close political connections to a political party it might damage their credibility. If religions want to be political in the above meaning – and from my point of view they have to – they should fight (peacefully in a democratical system) for their goals in society, whether they rather fit with the agenda of the government or the opposition.

Of course for an interfaith organisation like Interfaith Scotland that is even more difficult. What if two or more members or dialogue partners follow different political agendas? Well in this cases it is not possible that Interfaith Scotland supports one of the two agendas. It could only make a statement that shows the differences between its members. In general it would be dangerous, if political statements could be made with a simple majority in a vote, for example between the members of Interfaith Scotland or its board. It would be recognized if for example the faith communities in Scotland would all together criticise the government and therefore such statements need a large majority or better a unity behind them. How can you find such a majority or unity? Well I would say dialogue is the answer!

It would also be dangerous for Interfaith Scotland, if it depended to much on one political party. If for example the Scottish government tries to influence the religious groups too much via Interfaith Scotland and would threaten to cut the funding, when they are not successful in that, it would not be possible to provide a neutral platform for interfaith dialogue.

Why and when is it good, that Interfaith dialogue is political?

Interfaith dialogue is political in a good way, when it brings people together for improving the society – and is successful. One example is Interfaith Glasgow’s Weekend Club where an interfaith group of volunteers organizes activities around cultural and religious themes for refugees and asylum seekers. The engagement for refugees and asylum seekers is definitely political in the meaning I mentioned above. It has definitely an impact on the society when refugees and asylum seekers feel welcomed in Scotland and if they have the chance to learn about Scottish culture. It has also an impact on the volunteers, who have the opportunity to learn from each other and the participants at the events. Through projects like the “New Scots strategy” or media coverage around One Big Picnic or the Family Fun Day Interfaith Glasgow raises the voice for refugees, asylum seekers and more justice in our society and that is definitely a good result of interfaith engagement.

Other examples where interfaith engagement has an impact on the society is Scottish Interfaith Week. Not every theme in every year is in the same way political, but for example “Care for the environment” in 2015 or “Religion and the Media” in 2016 or “Connecting Generations”, which might become the theme for 2018 have been and are political in a good way.

Winter festivals

Winter time is a special time in many religions. Often special festivals are celebrated during the darkest months of the year. Often lighting of candles, special meals and families gathering together are a part of these festivals.

The winter festival season starts with Diwali in October/November, when the victory of light over darkness is celebrated. Diwali has a significant role in Hinduism, Sikhism and Jainism – even if the three religions remember/celebrate different events each.

By Khokarahman – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=37528449

In November/December (in most of the years in December) Jews celebrate Hanukkah and remember the miracle of the rededication of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem in the year 165/4 BC.

In December (Eastern Orthodox Churches which follow the Julian calendar instead of the Gregorian because of the difference between them in January) Christians celebrate Christmas – the birth of Jesus Christ.

Often there are special regional festivals more or less connected with religious traditions in this time of the year. One example is the Swedish Lucia celebration at the 13^th December, when they remember a Sicilian saint from around 300 CE.

What can we learn from the case that those winter festivals are so widely spread among the religions (there might be some festivals from other faith traditions that I missed…)? Well probably not that the religions are “in the end all the same” and even if there are parallels in the stories that are told at those festivals that “they celebrate the same thing, but in different ways”. There are good cases why Christians are, apart from maybe festival exchanges, not celebrating Diwali or Hanukkah as a part of their own tradition and why Jews don’t celebrate Christmas. Especially the comparison of Hanukkah and Christmas shows that they are in their core completely independent festivals, even if some traditions around them are very similar. The Jewish temple, which’s rededication is celebrated at Hanukkah has no special significance for Christians (although the first Christians were Jews and as such of course praying at the temple and for Christians it is completely clear that “their” god is the one, who was worshipped in the temple in Jerusalem). For Jews usually Jesus, who’s birth is celebrated on Christmas has no special (positive) significance (although he was a Jewish Rabi/teacher during his life and all of his early followers where Jews).

What the different faith traditions are sharing, and which is an important part of the different winter festivals is the hope. It’s a hope for a “better” world, where “good” wins over “evil”, where there is light and no darkness. This hope connects us today in a world where nationalism gets stronger, where people build walls and fences between each other, where we face a lot of political crisis and maybe a nuclear war, where people are starving to death in Yemen and people get persecuted for their faith in a lot of places in the world. This hope connects us also with all the people before us. With those 100 years ago during the first World War, with those 500 years ago in the times of the Christian Reformation, the beginning Colonialism and the life of the Sikh Gurus, with those 2000 years ago, when Jesus was born in a small village in a remote corner of the world and with the Jews who celebrated the rededication of their temple about 160 years earlier and with all the people living before us. We all are united by this hope and it might encourage us to work together to make this hope of a better world one day become true.

Scottish Interfaith Week 2017

Scottish Interfaith Week is over. More than 80 events took place all over Scotland. For me it was my very first Interfaith Week and I really liked it. When I look back to the last week I remember a very good dialogue at the Scriptural Reasoning in Edinburgh about food and food restrictions in Islam, Judaism and Christianity. I remember a very nice Launch event people of different generations and faith backgrounds came together and not only talked about the theme “Creativity and the Arts” but also became creative themselves in different workshops. I remember interesting talks and tours at St Mungo’s Museum of Religious Life and Art in Glasgow – even if there were not many people coming to those events. I remember a nice evening in Ayr organized by the local interfaith group with Choir music, a speech by a local painter and dialogue about what inspires people. I remember interesting meetings with youthworkers from five European countries who learned about inclusive youthwork during Scottish Interfaith Week. I remember a interesting event at the Scottish Parliament where the fantastic “Our Story” exhibition in Edinburgh was celebrated (you can see the exhibition about religious minorities until next April in the Museum of Edinburgh). I remember a nice evening with the Glasgow Baha’i community with interesting information about the Houses of Worship on the different continents. I remember a very positive speech of the local imam about religious diversity and pluralism at the Interfaith Lecture in Kirkcaldy in Fife. Last but not least I remember the great Interfaith Family Fun Day in Glasgow, with a lot of people from different faiths and nationalities.

Of course the events I could attend were only a small part of the huge range of events during the last week and also in the next days there will be some more events taking place.

But what stays in the end of this eight days full of events?

At first a lot of people all over the country who put a lot of time and energy into the week. Thank you for everything you have done for making this week and all the different events happen, whether you did this as part of your job or (and this is the large majority) in your free time, besides your work and family life.

Second, there is the huge group of people who came to events. Many of them might have been to interfaith events before, but I’m sure there were also a lot of people who went to interfaith events for the first time. Bringing these people together and showing them how to celebrate religious diversity and how to have dialogue with each other is a large achievement of Interfaith Week.

Third, around Interfaith Week there was a lot of publicity work going on. Articles in local newspapers, a radio interview at BBC Radio Scotland and a lot of posts on different Social Media platforms helped to spread the word about interfaith even outside the “bubble” of people who are already involved in interfaith work. Also the different MPs and MSPs and representatives of local authorities and faith communities who attended events are part of this project to spread the news about interfaith work in Scotland.

And what is happening now? Of course there will be an Interfaith Week in 2018 again, but until then it is also possible to increase the interfaith work. Interfaith is not only a theme for one week but for our everyday life. If you share this opinion, feel warmly invited to contact your local interfaith group or Interfaith Scotland. There are always projects and possibilities where you can geting engaged as a volunteer. You could also contact the faith communities in your local area and see if you can start your own local interfaith project (for example around a religious festival). Interfaith Scotland is always trying to support such projects as good as possible. So please, spread the word and continue the interfaith dialogue that has started/increased during the last week!

Peace One Day

This week is Peace One Day and because of that I went to Kilmarnock on Monday and gave a speech about Peace in the family, the community and the world and what interfaith dialogue can do for it. The following text is the manuscript of this speech (but without the general introduction about myself and the work of Interfaith Scotland):

Peace = Shalom

What do you think when you hear the word peace? Do you think about gravestone where you can read Rest in Peace on? Do you think about old man in suits or uniforms shaking hands in front of TV cameras? Do you think about rainbow flags and peace doves?

When I think about peace I think about a town where I lived for about five years. In Münster and its neighbour town Osnabrück the maybe largest peace treaty ever has been signed in 1648. Literally every European state had been involved in the big thirty years war. Started as a religious war between protestants and Catholics it became a big war between the different European powers. Soldiers from Sweden, Denmark, France, Spain, Austria and all the small German states of this time fought against each other. When the peace contract was signed messenger were sent to every country and told the world that war was over. In Münster they had huge celebrations with a lot of dancing and music and all fountains were filled with wine. For the people living in this time after more than one generation of war it must have felt like being in heaven.

But the peace wasn’t for long. Since 1648 Germany, Europe and the world have suffered from a lot of wars. Even when we have the maybe longest peace period in western and central Europe just now, there are so many places in the world where people suffer from war, violence and injustice.

So, what can we say about peace today? Peace in the Family, in the Community and in the world? When I learned Hebrew in university I learned about the Hebrew word for peace – shalom. It’s cognate to the Arabic word salaam and both can be used when you meet someone to say hello or good bye. My teacher at university told me, that shalom does not mean “only” peace in the meaning there is no war, it means also full harmony between god, mankind and the whole creation. It can mean every aspect of wellbeing for individuals or nations or the whole world. So, shalom has a much wider meaning than the English word “peace” or the German word “Frieden”. It is much more general and has a universal perspective of harmony in the world. From my point of view when we talk about peace – we should talk about shalom.

There are so many families here in Scotland and in the world who don’t have shalom. Shalom in a family would mean that parents and children treat each other with respect and love. Shalom in a family would mean that partners are treating each other with respect and love. Shalom in a family would mean that children treat each other with respect and love. Shalom in a family would mean that no one has to suffer from violence. Shalom in a family would mean that no one has to be afraid to tell his or her opinion.

There are so many communities where the people don’t have shalom. Shalom in a community would mean that no one has to stay lonely, because people care for each other. Shalom in a community would mean that no one has to be ashamed about what he or she feels or thinks. Shalom in a community would mean that everyone has enough to live: a place to stay, a meaningful task to do and no sorrows about how to get his or her food for the next day. Shalom in a community would mean, that everyone can live the life he or she wants and everyone respects it.

There is our world and most of the people living here don’t have shalom. Shalom for the world would mean, that there are no wars anymore. Not between states, not between nations, not between religions and faiths. Shalom for the world would mean, that no one has to leave his home because of economic reasons or because his or her life is threatened by war, violence or hunger. Shalom for the world would mean, that mankind stops destroying the environment. Shalom for the world would mean, that everyone can get a good education. Shalom for the world would mean, that no children have to work instead of going to school. Shalom for the world would mean, that all the nations and religions live in peace together instead of claiming supremacy about each other.

Living in shalom in our families, communities and in the world would be a great thing. It would legitimate a big party – much bigger then the parties after the end of the thirty year war in Münster in 1648. But to reach this goal – shalom for the world – is still a long way to go. But it’s a process where everyone is responsible. What did I do for bringing shalom to the world today? What did you do? One possible guideline is the so called Golden Rule which you find in every one of the big religions and faith traditions. “One should treat others as one would like others to treat oneself.” This sentence can be a guideline for our way to shalom. In a world where everyone would treat others as he or she wants to be treated by others no one suffers from violence. In such a world, everyone can tell his or her opinion. In such a world, the different nations and religions work together making the world a better place instead of fighting each other. In such a world, there would be peace in every family, community and the whole world. In such a world there would be shalom. From my point of view this is a goal we should try to reach, even if it seems impossible.

Interfaith dialogue and Peace: 3 examples

So, what could interfaith dialogue do to spread shalom all over the world. I’m having a look at three examples.

From the time of the reformation until the middle of the last century Germany was religiously divided into parts with mainly protestant and parts with mainly catholic population. If someone protestant wanted to marry someone catholic or the other way around they had to decide which religion they wanted to have. They could not be “a mixed couple”. The people from the other denomination weren’t accepted as “true Christians”. And even inside Protestantism it was the same way between Calvinists and Lutheran Christians. That wasn’t a big problem as long as people normally stayed at the same place their entire live. Probably a protestant Lutheran farmer in this time never met a Catholic or Calvinist person. After the industrialisation people got more mobile and it was easier to move to another part of the country and the population got mixed. This blending of the religious denominations increased a lot when after the second world war millions of Germans had to live their home in the former parts of eastern Germany which today belong to Poland or the Czech Republic. When I was training to become a minister, I met a lot of people who had been refugees from these areas when they were children. They told me how difficult it was for example to come to a mainly catholic area as a protestant. The other children were not allowed to play with them and in school they got bad marks only because they belonged to another faith. During the last 60 years the religious differences between Catholics and Protestants and between the different protestant groups became much less important. Today it’s very usual that there are “mixed” families and in many towns and villages Protestants and Catholics work together very well. Even if the relationship is not without tensions so did the dialogue in the last 60 years bring people together who couldn’t have lived together the 500 years before. Maybe this dialogue between different Christian denominations has not brought complete shalom – but it brought shalom to many families and communities and it helped to bring peace to one of the most violent areas in Europe. I think there are examples of this kind of dialogue and reconciliation in Scotland and other parts of the world as well. I hope that the different religions continue the way they started and bring peace to more and more families, communities and countries.

The next example is from Germany as well. During my time at university I lived in a student dormitory for five years. This dormitory was provided by the protestant church and the chaplain was the director of the dormitory but it had an international, ecumenical and interfaith profile. Half of the inhabitants is always from abroad and half is from Germany. Half is male half is female. All were living together in fife corridors. During one semester, I shared my corridor with people from Nepal, Morocco, Syria Ukraine, China, Poland and Germany. Amongst the people from Syria there were Kurdish people as well as Arab Muslims and Arab Christians and the war in Syria had already started. From time to time we met for a big meal together and everybody brought something from his home and we shared it together. In this moment, we nearly forgot about all the differences and tensions. Maybe my flatmates from Syria could forget the sorrow for their families at least for a short moment. It was not important if someone was a Christian, a Muslim, a Zoroastrian, a Hindu or a non-believer it was not important if someone was male or female, it was not important if someone was German, Polish, Ukrainian, Moroccan, Chinese, Arab or Kurdish. We were just together as friends sharing food, drinks, time and joy. For me it was possible to feel the shalom, the complete peace in this moments. If we want to learn something from this about how to build peace it might be, that it’s important to bring people together, to share food with each other and to respect each other. I think many religious groups and charity organisations are doing this and I hope they continue and increase their work.

The third and last example is from the work of Interfaith Scotland. You all know about the difficult political situation in Ukraine. But maybe you are not aware about the strong religious tensions which go ahead with this conflict – I wasn’t aware of it anyway. The two national churches the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and the Russian Orthodox Church have big tensions between them since the end of the Soviet Union. In both cases religious differences are connected and mixed with nationalistic thinking and the conflict and war of the last years has made it impossible that the leaders of the churches speak to each other. Anyway this summer the Director of Interfaith Scotland went with some other dialogue experts to Ukraine and they had one week to learn how to speak to each other. They learned some methods of dialogue, for example sharing stories which were very emotional and to talk about important texts they have in common as the beatitudes from the gospel of Matthew. Of course, this one week won’t bring peace to Ukraine directly but it’s the start to a process and it’s giving some hope that it’s possible to build peace even in such countries as in Ukraine.

Many conflicts in the world are connected with religious differences and often it seems impossible to solve them. Ukraine is one example, Syria and Iraq are others. But if I have a look on the process of peacebuilding and reconciliation in Germany and Western Europe since the second world war and if I remember my experiences in the student dormitory I have the hope to get peace there one day in the future.

What do you think when you hear the word “peace”? I think about shalom and all the steps that are necessary to take for us as human beings and for all the different religious groups and faiths.

Thank you!