wfn.org | INTERFAITH DIALOG DEEPENS BELIEFS,SAY WORLD PARLIAMENT PRESENTERS

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@wfn.org>]

Nov. 9, 1999
Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions
John Dart, 818 363 3984, jdartnews@aol.com
Mim Neal, 313 629 2990, mimneal@cpwr.org
http://www.cpwr.org

By John Dart, Media Consultant
Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions

         CHICAGO--- Does interreligious dialog with articulate practitioners
of other religions lead to watered-down beliefs or a patchwork faith?  No,
say a sampling of presenters at the Parliament of the World's Religions in
Cape Town, South Africa, Dec. 1-8, the largest gathering of grassroots
practitioners and spiritual leaders in the global interreligious movement.
         The Parliament's prevailing atmosphere of respect for each
spiritual tradition tends to deepen understanding and appreciation of one's
own religion, according to participants.
         "There are some people (outside interreligious circles) who would
worry about the dumbing down of faith" for the sake of harmony and
cooperation, said the Rev. Dick Leucke, an Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America minister active in urban ministries in Chicago. "But the folks I
know in Islam, Judaism or Hinduism don't think for a moment of a new
syncretism," Leucke said. "Most talk about a mutual illumination."
         The future of interreligious dialog and action will be explored in
a three-day symposium orchestrated by the Rev. Marcus Braybrooke, an
Anglican priest who chairs the International Interfaith Centre at Oxford.
Panelists include theologian Hans Kung of the Global Ethic Foundation,
Daniel Gomez-Ibanez of the International Peace Council, Preminder Jain of
the Interfaith Center of New York, Ossama El Kaffash of the Middle East
Abrahamic Forum and Jim Kenney of the Council for a Parliament of the
World's Religions (CPWR).
         Most interreligious movements have a two-fold purpose, said
Braybrooke, also a president of the World Congress of Faiths. "There is a
practical agenda for faiths to work together for a better world, but there
is also spiritual agenda that as we learn from other we shall learn more
about the Ultimate Mystery and how our lives can become more spiritual," he
said.
         "My Christian faith has been broadened and deepened by contact with
Jews, Muslims and others," Braybrooke said. "For example, Hindus have
helped me learn about meditation and to become a vegetarian."
Huston Smith, author of the long-popular "The World's Religions," put it
another way. Christianity and his family formed his character. "Throughout
my life it has continued to be my meal," he said, "but I am a strong
believer in vitamin supplements---spiritual insights gleaned from other
religions."  At the Parliament, Smith will take part in several
interreligious panels, including six with Native Americans.
         A 1999 Parliament workshop leader, Kay Lindahl, Southern California
coordinator for United Religions Initiative, credits the 1993 Parliament of
the World's Religions with escalating her interfaith activities. Her
experiences with interreligious organizations "made me delve more deeply
into my own Christian tradition," she said. Immersing oneself in
interreligious dialog does not usually result in "an amorphous faith,"
Lindahl maintained.
         Agreeing with her was another Parliament workshop leader, Benjamin
Hubbard, who chairs the comparative religion department at California State
University at Fullerton. "You see in other religions some aspects of your
own," Hubbard said, "You appreciate both the other faith and your own---it
happens simultaneously."
         Holding the Parliament in a country once constricted by apartheid,
he said, "is an awfully good symbol of what might be possible in the 21st
Century" in terms of overcoming adversity with a "better spirit of
cooperation."
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Note:  All Parliament news releases, before and during the meeting, can be
found on Worldwide Faith News  http://www.wfn.org    They will also be
posted on the CPWR web site.   The Parliament media centre in Cape Town can
be reached via mimneal@cpwr.org, pwrsajak@snapc.org; telephone +27 (21) 448
4610
************************************************

Ms. Mim Neal
Public Relations Manager

Mr. John Dart
Media Consultant - CPWR / California
Tel. / Fax: 818-363-3984
E-mail: mailto:jdartnews@aol.com

CPWR Tel.: 312-629-2990
       Fax: 312-629-2991 / 3552 / 1287
Direct Line for Mim Neal: 312-629-1120

Web site:  http://www.cpwr.org
parliament General Info: mailto:99info@cpwr.org