Perspective on Inter Faith Harmony and the Inter-Faith Council

Too many times, people of different faiths are afraid of offending one another. Sometimes , it is the atheists or agnostics who are afraid that a religious group, e.g. Christians, will offend those of other beliefs .

They then seek to 'dilute' overt expressions of their faith and tell them not to be 'fanatical' or 'intolerant'. I just read an interesting article in which someone asked whether atheists / freethinkers are actually the ones who are sometimes most fanatical or intolerant in their belief.

Sometimes, it is the atheist or secularist who wants to mould everyone into the same mould by claiming that all gods are the same.

Sometimes, it shows itself up in excessive proclamations of the country or state as a " secular nation " or " secular state " .

But , just as how a leader of the faith was glad to be invited to visit a Mosque recently, there are (or should be) no offended feelings on the part of many Christians but only gladness at the extension of friendship.
In fact, Christians are sometimes afraid that their counterparts would be offended if the Christian steps into a mosque or does anything that can cause misunderstandings; when the truth is that some Muslims would be happy to host them.
Therefore, there should be more open dialogue and frank discussion so that fear of offence, which leads to more misunderstandings, is reduced.

This is where any Inter Faith Council or Circle ought to tread, in Singapore or elsewhere.

The solution is not in pretending that all beliefs are the same -- or in trying to get leaders of different faiths to act as if all beliefs are the same.
The solution is not in glossing over convictions that form the core of a person's being (for belief in God or no God is, possibly, the strongest conviction or one of the strongest convictions that a human being can hold).

The solution is not in asking Christians to "water down" our beliefs so that we don't offend others.

A council seeking true inter-faith harmony must realise:
"In seeking to please everyone, we please no one.
In seeking to offend nobody, we may offend everybody."


How?

(i) Acknowledge that different beliefs are different (adherents of most faiths will find it illogical to say that all beliefs lead to the same conclusion or that all gods are the same so long as we look at them the same way)
and
(ii) the fact that it is entirely possible to have a very strong & uncompromising belief in our own God but still respect , befriend and even love the people who believe in a different God.

Rejection of the belief is not rejection of the individual persons who profess that belief.

We can have more of the following:

• Real friendships with individuals of other faiths , or , a desire for real friendships
• Frank, open and sincere dialogue with a humble attitude
• Mutual acceptance that the other's belief is different without denigrating the worth of the person as a person
• More cross-participation in and genuine enjoyment of different peoples and cultures , including any elements with non-religious connotation (this does not include elements or expressions of religious significance).
  For example, if a leader of one faith is invited to visit a house of worship of another faith, and he stands silently and in a respectful posture while the other person of different faith prays, the maintenance of silence & lack of overt gestures can be simply a mark of graciousness and respect for the other person and the setting and not an action to indicate that they believe in the same god (for, by the very definition of the faith, this is usually not possible, illogical or directly contradictory to say that all gods are the same).
• More hospitality
• More Invitations
• Mutual sharing to people of different religions, as friends , of what one's faith and gospel means , without treating each other as apostates .