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Document Details : Title: Trends and Developments in the Field of Interreligious Dialogue Author(s): EVERS, Georg Journal: Studies in Interreligious Dialogue Volume: 15 Issue: 2 Date: 2005 Pages: 244-256 DOI: 10.2143/SID.15.2.2004108 Abstract : Interreligious dialogue is facing hard times these days where terrorist acts in the name of religion have become widespread. Islam is seen more and more by the general public as a religion tainted by the epithet of violence. In the Netherlands the murder of Theo van Gogh by a fundamentalist Muslim of Moroccan descent but living and raised in the country has started a lively debate on the failure of the project of multiculturalism of which the Dutch were so proud. A similar debate is going on in the UK in the aftermath of the London suburb bombings. There is a growing fear of the demographic power of Muslim immigration into Europe. Islam religious authorities are asked to distance themselves clearly from all acts of violence committed in the name of Islam. As a positive sign that interreligious cooperation can function, the common relief operations by members of different religions in the aftermath of the tsunami catastrophe in Southeast Asia need to be mentioned. Members of nearly all religions joined in mourning the death of Pope John Paul II. The first acts of his successor Benedict XVI in meeting Jews and Muslims in Cologne on the occasion of the World Youth Day show that he intends to pursue his predecessor’s course of in the field of dialogue. |
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