Interfaith, Inter-religious, Ecumenical? “No thanks I’m committed to my faith!”

I would like to clarify some terms before starting this somewhat contentious subject. Interfaith is most commonly understood as an open dialogue between different religions/sects/denominations. Interfaith comes in a number of flavors, but most folks involved in this work are looking for commonalities upon which they can base further exploration, I tend to be on the radical fringe of this in that I buy that old perennial philosophy notion that at its roots all religions are one, I’m willing to hold hands with anyone and sing Kumbaya, part of this is an insatiable curiosity and a deeper appreciation of spiritual diversity. I will admit that I do foresee a time when a universal religion is possible. I’ll also admit that I am very possibly wrong on this point, but I wanted to get out of the way the argument against old hippies and dreamers such as myself. To put it succinctly I use the phrase “One God, Many Paths” and am quite willing to believe they are all different paths on the same mountain leading to a single peak. Many who I work with and have deep respect for will admit we are all on ‘a’ path but not on the same mountain, or even the same mountain range for that matter.

Inter-religious work is a more pragmatic approach which recognizes that many of the tensions and misunderstandings in the world have as their cause doctrinal differences between religions. Because this cannot be left out of the dialogue, we must recognize painful histories and difficult relationships between religions, perhaps a prime example is Christianity versus Islam. Those committed to Inter-religious dialogue are seeking to find commonalities that enable dialogue which may result in the kinds of compromises and agreements that will resolve issues that are intense enough to lead to war and the violation of the civil rights of others.

Ecumenical, or Intrafaith work, has more to do with working out the differences in a given religion or faith path that will result in cooperation and potentially even unification. This is a high-level vision held by certain leaders in the Catholic Church and their counterparts in Orthodox Christianity who would like to be rejoined under a common Holy See. To a lesser extent you’ll find these approaches within various sects of Christianity that have split within their own denomination, the various Baptist conventions or Lutheran Synods may be other notable examples.

Didn’t want to get so bogged down in definitions, but perhaps that was useful to get clear about the issue I’d like to address in this post. Among the concerns of those committed to Inter-religious dialogue is the pursuit of social justice. Nowhere in my own spheres of Interfaith/Inter-religious dialogue work is this clearer than in the work we are doing in the United Interfaith Community Coalition of Beaufort which was organized by Grace Chapel AME’s pastor Rev. Jeannine Smalls in response to the tragedy that took place at the Mother Emanuel Chapel in Charleston, SC. My first connection with UICCB was attending the first annual memorial service at Grace Chapel which was very widely attended by people of all faiths.

The first meeting that I attended of the organization itself had a few ministers from the black community but most of the participants represented the white mainline religions of the city of Beaufort and surrounding communities. I point that out because I believe that some of the black ministers chose not to continue to participate for the very same reason that many more fundamentalist Christian pastors never did participate, and that is the fear that others would try to convert them or that their own faith would be watered down by merely listening to what others from different faiths might have to say. I’ll leave my personal feelings out regarding those who hold these views and focus on what I would like to say to them.

Let me state this very clearly, the deep bigotry and racial hatred that resulted in the heinous murder of those nine individuals has not been washed away by the blood of those innocents, nor the healing gestures of forgiveness made by families and friends. If anything this last election cycle revealed that these feelings are much closer to the surface and are much more widely spread than any of us could’ve imagined who worked so hard in the ‘60s and ‘70s in the cause of civil rights, in the cause of women’s rights and in the prospects of peace. I believe it must be said that faith leaders, the ministers and pastors of our communities, must come together despite all doctrinal differences and declare that these attitudes and behaviors are unacceptable and to work as spiritual leaders to uncover the root causes and to exorcise them in the name of all that is holy.

I would hope that we can agree to disagree about those aspects of our differences which have nothing to do with civil rights and common human decency and that we could come together in a prayerful attitude and accept the mission that all who minister to the souls of others must accept in order to be faithful to their calling. There are some things that call for an assembly of conscience, that demand of us that we stand together and declare our truth. Can I get an Amen?