Meeting with other Believers (Cardinal Francis Arinze) summary and reaction paper

Introduction and Chapter One:

In the introduction, Cardinal Arinze started by explaining that this book will be about the experiences of various people regarding meeting other believers of other faith.

            

Chapter One started with defining interreligious dialogue, it emphasizes the point that it is not about debating which religion is the better nor convincing the majority that one religion is the best, or a collision of religion is better. Interreligious dialogue is about understanding other religions and genuinely appreciating all the same, you can do so by merely listening to them.

It stresses the four kinds of Interreligious Dialogue. The first is the Dialogue of Life, it is the most basic way of relating with other believers. Dialogue of Life just means acknowledging or interacting with people of different faith on daily basis. For instance, greeting your Buddhist neighbour or talking to a Muslim about the weather. Such miniscule actions are already part of an interreligious dialogue.

            

The second kind of Interreligious Dialogue is Dialogue of Action, it requires a bit more work that the Dialogue of Life. Dialogue of Life refers to the idea of two different religions working together for a cause. For example a joint project was formed by Muslims and Catholics to promote education.

            

The third kind is the Dialogue of Discourse, this requires more handy work because it refers to experts of different religions meeting each other, discovering the similarities and differences of their faith and trying to understand the faith of one another.

            

The final kind is the Dialogue of Religious Experience. All religions believe in one God, all believers want to meet the absolute God, they engage in a religion in order to achieve this. Dialogue of Religious experience refers to exchanging meditations, experiences, and contemplation during this quest. This particular dialogue is mostly targeting the individual who are flexible enough to pursue more than one religion in order to meet the absolute God.

            

Arinze pointed out that among those four dialogues, at least one kind of dialogue is being practiced when a believer meets another.

I must say that even without attempting to intentionally, I am practicing one daily, the Dialogue of Life. In fact, I’ve been practicing one all my life. My father is a Muslim and the rest of us in the family are Catholics, our family is already practicing this particular dialogue without attempting to.

Chapter Two:

Chapter two of “Meeting with the Believers” emphasizes the importance of Interreligious Dialogue. Nowadays, people are more concerned with the economy, they think about work, how to earn more and etc. Arinze states in this chapter why Interreligious Dialogue is important, he gave the following reasons.

           

Religious Partiality. Religions existed long before our time, the fact that it is still existing means a lot. History shaped our lives, it is the reason why North Korea prefers to be reclusive but so does religion. Religion basically taught our ancestors how to act, it serves as a moral ethic. It instils the values that we have today. Philippines was once a colony of Spain and Spain is a Catholic country. In effect, Philippines became a Catholic country too. Religion has became a great factor of shaping today’s present, it would be radical to just eradicate it and deem it useless.

            

Desire for Interaction. It is not just the desire to travel in particular, it is more than just a desire. Some people are forced to move abroad to different countries and meet new believers in order to sustain their life source, to work, and more. Thus, by doing so, more Interreligious Dialogue is needed. Furthermore, some people go to a certain country and came back converted to another religion because the believers they interacted with were able to convince them of their faith, however in some cases, they are being forced to convert to avoid being judged. It is also not just about necessity, more and more people are getting more curious about different religions, ergo, giving way to the need for more interreligious dialogue.

            

Mutual Enrichment. Sometimes through Interreligious dialogue, we would be able to appreciate our religion more. Through interacting with other religions you learn more about their practices and beliefs, you will be able to find some alien traditions and sometimes this will help you be rooted firmly on your religion.

            

Interaction and Mutual Enrichment of Religions. Through interreligious dialogues and contacts, religions may be able to promote themselves. Through learning more from different religions they can be able to determine if a certain belief is pointless or not and be able to eradicate if it was deemed pointless.

            

Harmony between Citizens. If a certain region in the country has a domineering religion, then, through interreligious dialogue, the citizens of this certain region may promote harmony to other regions with different religions because they are learning to understand both their religions.

            

Joint Promotion of Moral Values, Development, Justice, and Peace. When followers of different religions of the country interact and cooperate with one another they will be able to promote a certain human value to instil in a country. For instance, two religions disagree against abortion because it is part of their belief. If so, these two religions can team up against abortion, in effect, their will be stronger. They will be able to promote the government to not legalize abortion.

            

Solutions to Religious Extremism .Some religions want their religion to be the only one in the country and in effect, they drive out the other religions. This will be avoided through interreligious dialogue.

            

Unity of Human Nature. There is a wide difference and convergence between religions. So far, all religions aim to meet the absolute God. Through unity among these religions, they may be able to meet the Absolute God.

   

   

Chapter Three:

Chapter 3 discusses the disadvantages of Interreligious religion and why some believe it to be more disadvantageous rather than advantageous.

            

Danger of losing one’s faith. When interreligious dialogue takes place, some believers may meet other believers who are more sophisticated and better articulate about their religious beliefs, this can result to losing faith in one’s original religion. Some religions may also appear to be more politically powerful and this can result to losing faith.

To avoid this from happening, there should be equality in belief. Meaning, interreligious dialogue may happen if both representatives know their faith equally. For instance, interreligious dialogue between a devoted Buddhist and a newly-converted Catholic may not be successful because the Buddhist knows more about his religion and can easily sway the faith of the Catholic. Not only should they be equal in belief but they should be convinced of their own religion first before meeting other believers.

May believe that the other religion is the same like the other. First of all, all religions are distinct. Yes, religions aim to find or connect with the Supreme ruler but their way of connecting with the ruler is distinct, each individual must look for their own religion which they think will provide them the path of unravelling the religious truth.

Fear of Syncretism. Syncretism refers to combining all religions as one to preserve all religions, think of it like the UN, a world government but in this case, a religion a world religion. This won’t work because it may end up disrespecting the religions combined and it would be too diverse. Not to mention, the question of which entity would we all worship isn’t even brought out yet.

Religious leaders fear that their flock will get to greener pastures. It is unavoidable to be worried if your friend prefer the company of the other person and she or he would most likely get together more with the other person. That is what religious leaders feel, they are worried that if interreligious dialogue do occur, they will lose believers because they will think that the other religion is better. This would be avoided according to the individual, if the individual is convince of his faith and is devoted to it, then, there’s a slim chance of that happening.

Danger of Religious Indifferentism. Too much interreligious dialogue may result to a believer being faithful to just one religion. To avoid this, each individual must be well-grounded in his or her own religion.

All these are not threats to losing one’s faith as long as the individual is devoted to their own religion.

           

Chapter Four:  

Interreligious dialogue means understanding what other religions are about but at the same time, you must still associate with your own religion. Conversation is a two-way process, it is not just about them, it is about you too. Don’t be too afraid to show your religion too.

Dialogue presumes differences. Dialogue means connecting. Connecting with other religions mean that you are sharing each other’s differences, you are showing what made your religion distinct compared to them. You are showing them what your religion is about, therefore, don’t cover your religion because this will only lead to suspicion from the other party.

            

Statement of belief. In order to have interreligious dialogue, there must be a presence of mutual trust. You must genuinely listen to their beliefs. However, take note not to use the words they use from their religions too early because you might end up offending them and might cause a rift from both parties.

            

Statement of identity in worship. Worship according to the approved, don’t change the way you worship just to impress or show the other religion how both your religions are not so different. Be true to your religion, don’t make changes. Again, this may only raise suspicion.

            

Comportment. Don’t hide your religion, show it. Dress according to what your religion states, Muslims wear the designated attire and they are not ashamed, it shows respect for your own religion. By doing this, you are also releasing honesty. Therefore, the other party will be truthful too.

            

Religious identity in celebrations. Every religion is provided with their own holidays, it is a necessary for each religion to accept this in order to achieve successful interreligious dialogue. During these celebrations, celebrate as you normally do, don’t suppress just because other religions are present. At the most, invite them (if it’s not against) but if they decline, no need to insist more.

            

Necessity of religious self-image. There is also an ambassador for a religion whenever an interreligious dialogue occurs. This ambassador will represent the religion therefore he must be chosen carefully. He must carry the body of the religion and must know where one stand for.

            

Yes, connecting with other religions means that you are learning more about them but don’t forget to be always true to your own. Don’t wear a mask just to impress them, it will only raise suspicion.

Chapter Five: 

Can provoke heated debates. At the most, interreligious dialogue is frowned upon because this may open up a heated debate because these religions worship different things. I would like to emphasize that interreligious dialogue means listening and listening differs from agreeing and accepting. What we can do is hear out the theological differences without disagreeing to it, you are not there to accept or reject, you just need to listen.

            

Beliefs are too dear. When conversing with other religions, be sensitive, some take it too close to their heart and if you end up offending them, it will cause a rift.

            

Take it or leave it. Some believers are too loyal and rooted to their religion. They think their religion is the best so they use interreligious dialogue to expose their own religion so others will be convinced and accept it.

            

Promoting mutual communication. Going back to the first chapter, to promote mutual communication, one must learn to listen. Through listening, prejudice between religions will fall. They will have a better understanding of other religions and biased judgements will be replaced with facts.

Chapter Six: 

Does a zealous missionary go through interreligious dialogue in order to win convert? It can’t be helped that some do to create propagandas that support their own religion.

            

Right to propagate. Each believer, especially the ones who are rooted to their religion, must promote his own religion, they promote their own religion to win converts and spread the religion. Though some do this, some don’t.

            

Proselytism. This method is also done to spread the religion but this is more of a user tendency, they make use of the underprivileged. They would give charities to the poor in exchange to converting to their own religion. This method is inappropriate as it takes advantage of the individual. The individual must choose his or her religion willingly and with peace of mind.

            

Dialogue is not propagation. Propagation is a means of achieving its own end, trying to win converts meanwhile dialogue promotes religious identity.

            

Conversion to God is needed for dialogue. Through the dialogues, we are becoming more open to god because religions aim to connect to God. By expanding our knowledge about other religions, we are becoming closer to God.

            

Conversion to another is not the aim of dialogue. Dialogue is just learning more about the other religions, it is not making someone embrace other religions.

            

Relationship between proclamation and dialogue. Interreligious dialogue helps promote mutual knowledge of religions, meanwhile proclamation is promoting one’s religion.

Reciprocity. Dialogue can be affected by the country. For instance, in Muslims countries, Catholicism is less promoted. That is what reciprocity is about, such a right should be applicable to other religions.

Chapter Seven: 

Same God Creator of all. God is described as knowing everyone to be his sons and daughters and encouraging all of us to relate well with each other. He is known to love all of us equally and has a plan for each and every one of us. He is our father and we are his children no matter what religion we are, this applies to everyone one of us.

Human Nature. It is in human nature to need others rather than just moving by oneself and through others, you will be able to gain more knowledge.

Jesus Christ, Saviour of all. Jesus Christ sacrificed for all not just the Catholics but all. One reason why the Catholics are promoting interreligious dialogue more than common.

            

Christ sent the Church for all. According to the Catholic, Christ sent the church to all not just the Catholics, meaning it is also for the people of different religions.

            

What the Church learns through dialogue. The church learned that divisions are an obstacle towards to path of progress.

            

Catholic Church is committed. Its commitment is more or less the mission of the church, the Vatican city itself is making it a point to relate well with other religions.

           

Chapter Eight: 

Religious Freedom. The individual should be free to choose his religion. He must have the freewill which religion will he practice and which will he promote.

            

Clear religious identity. From the previous chapters, religion being distinct is an important thing, therefore you must stay grounded to your religion and don’t suppress any values. Stay true to your religion.

            

Conviction on value and dialogue. You must not doubt your own religion if you want to pursue interreligious dialogue.

            

Openness. Interreligious dialogue means being connected, understanding and sharing knowledge between religions, how can you share knowledge if you are not open? Therefore being open is a value needed.

            

Love and Respect. These values are needed if you are going to interact with different religions. Nothing good will come out if respect is not practiced between both religions.

            

Knowledge of other religions. This is not too necessary but when you are talking about expert or the ambassadors of interreligious dialogue, knowledge of other religions is beneficial

            

Healing historical memories. Some religions have some bloody history with each other. It is important to move on from these memories and start anew. Interreligious dialogue will help heal the past and resolve past conflicts. It will even help understand each other.

            

Religious apathy. Sometimes this is helpful because being always aware of these things can lead to easy misunderstanding and it will be difficult to explain.

Chapter Nine: 

Spirituality and Religion. Spirituality is going beyond self and aspiring to be in a relationship with a Divine Being whereas religion is a moral code or worship.

            

Necessity of Spirituality. Spirituality is more than just a concept, it is a necessity. Today, people classify material goods as a necessity but over time, we will grow tired of these material goods. What is left is spirituality and spirituality means finding satisfaction or specifically, looking for the Supreme Being wherein all religions are trying to do.

            

Quest for holiness. Humans all want to have a connection with the Supreme Being. Different religions have done this, Christians through their saints, Muslims through their prophet and etc. We all want to make a connection, we can do that through the quest of holiness and for Christians charity or loving your neighbour is their quest of holiness, meanwhile for the Muslims, it is following their Quran.

            

Sharing Spirituality. By sharing spiritualities among different religions, your understanding gets deeper and your connection to God gets closer because that is what all religions are trying to achieve, connecting with the Supreme Being.

            

Advantages of spirituality in dialogue. Dialogue of Spirituality will help participants achieve a rich spiritual nourishment for the other three forms of dialogue (dialogue of life, dialogue of action and dialogue of social exchange).  

            

Spiritual growth through dialogue of spirituality. Not all dialogue partners arrive at the high level of religious commitment which dialogue of spirituality requires but for those who do, they are being closer to God.