wfn.org | LWF Program Focuses on Role of Religion in Promoting and

["Frank Imhoff" <FRANKI@elca.org>]

LWF Program Focuses on Role of Religion in Promoting and Resolving Conflict
Denmark Provides First Case Study for Christian-Muslim Team 

COPENHAGEN, Denmark/GENEVA, 10 December 2003 (LWI) - "What role
does religion play today in promoting conflicts, overcoming them
and reconciling differences to establish peaceful coexistence?"

This crucial question is the focus of a new study program
initiated by the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Department for
Theology and Studies (DTS). The initiative is a continuation of
the LWF's on-going engagement in Christian-Muslim relations
worldwide, especially the 1992 to 2002 DTS study program on
Islam.
 
An intensive week of sharing between local partners and an LWF
Christian-Muslim study group recently took place in Denmark. The
program included meetings with Danish politicians, and Christian
and Muslim leaders, visits to Christian and Muslim projects, and
to the Danish Institute for Human Rights, as well as an LWF
presentation about the international situation involving the two
faiths. The participants also consulted with representatives of
different church-related institutions and held dialogue sessions
and interviews with members of Christian and Muslim communities.
They also attended a Lutheran Sunday worship service, and Friday
prayers at a mosque. 

"We have had a very important exchange, and I think that the
foundation we got here as a team is crucial in the future study
process," said team member Nelly van Doorn-Harder, associate
professor at the Department of Theology, Valparaiso University,
United States of America. 
 
During a three-year period, the Christian-Muslim cross-cultural
team will carry out case studies in different conflict situations
involving Lutherans and Muslims. The project will focus on how
the people of both faiths are trying to deal with situations of
conflict, and the attempts being made toward establishing peace.

The nine-member study group is coordinated by the DTS Study
Secretary for the Church and People of Other Faiths, Rev. Dr Ingo
Wulfhorst. Its members include a Christian and Muslim
representative each from Denmark, Indonesia, Nigeria and the
USA.

Program Methodology is Inspired by Diapraxis

"In this study process we use a new methodology," explained
Wulfhorst. The main idea is to work together, as Christians and
Muslims, on an equal basis and first to listen to each other "in
order to get a sense and understanding of the cause of the
conflict," he said. The team members base their theological
reflections on these experiences.
 
The program methodology is inspired by the term "diapraxis,"
coined 15 years ago by Danish theologian Lissi Rasmussen, who is
part of the team. A pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
Denmark and director of the Islamic-Christian study center in
Copenhagen, Rasmussen defines diapraxis as "a relationship in
which a common praxis [established practice] is essential."
Diapraxis, she said, is not the application of dialogue but
"dialogue as action." It is a process that calls for a contextual
approach to dialogue, enabling people to meet in order to try to
reveal and transform the reality they share. 

Grassroots Approach Recommended in Dealing with Prejudices and
Reluctance toward Dialogue

"The role of religion is ambiguous. As the Danish experience
confirms, the study program will have to be carried out in the
awareness that there are groups, Lutheran as well as Muslim, that
are not so interested in dialogue," noted van Doorn-Harder. She
pointed out that there are many difficulties in such a process
including strong prejudices, reluctance and hesitation to engage
closely with each other. "This stresses the need to work on a
grassroots level. As friendships are created between peoples of
different faiths, barriers can be broken," she said. 

"In facing these and other difficulties it is important to take
small steps toward promoting dialogue based on grassroots
experiences and personal encounters," said van Doorn-Harder.

The three year time-frame of the DTS study program is aimed at
securing an ongoing, mutual learning process. The team hopes to
promote common Christian-Muslim theological studies in different
situations of conflict and help overcome conflicts by involving
both Christians and Muslims. There is also the need to clarify
key issues such as specifics of social and political
circumstances and theological foundations in cross-cultural
inter-faith encounters in conflict situations. The first planning
meeting of the Lutheran-Muslim core group was held in Geneva in
March 2003, and the team began its actual work in October 2003
with the case study in Denmark. 

In 2004, the team will visit Indonesia and Nigeria. An
international Christian-Muslim meeting on conflict and peace is
planned for 2005. The whole process will result in the
publication of a book and/or educational materials that can be
used in congregations and among interested groups worldwide as
the basis for further study. (764 words) 

(By LWI correspondent Elizabeth Knox-Seith, Denmark.)

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the
Lutheran tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund (Sweden), the LWF now
has 136 member churches in 76 countries representing over 61.7
million of the 65.4 million Lutherans worldwide. The LWF acts on
behalf of its member churches in areas of common interest such as
ecumenical and inter-faith relations, theology, humanitarian
assistance, human rights, communication, and the various aspects
of mission and development work. Its secretariat is located in
Geneva, Switzerland.)

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