The prolific Swiss scholar of world religions, Hans Küng, works by the maxim, “There will be no peace among the nations without peace among the religions. There will be no peace among the religions without dialogue among the religions.”

 

To actualize this idea, he has composed (in conjunction with leading scholars from various religious traditions) a global ethic that entails four primary ideas. First, a commitment to a culture of non-violence and respect for life. Second, a commitment to a culture of solidarity and a just economic order. Third, a commitment to a culture of tolerance and a life of truthfulness. Fourth, a commitment to a culture of equal rights and partnership between men and women.

 

In today’s globalized world torn by religion-fueled strife, Küng’s advice is more relevant than ever. God’s Warriors, a six-hour series presented on CNN, Christiane Amanpour documented the violent interplay of rhetoric, theology, and politics in extremist Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. Separately each one poses a significant risk, but combined they catalyze into a combustible formula.

 

Religion, as we all know, plays a central role in world affairs. Therefore, society will transform based on the actions of religious people. The question facing us is: What direction will that transformation take—one of continual warfare leading, perhaps, to a global conflagration involving nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons? Or will the transformation bring about an extended peace where people of all (and no) faith respect each other’s humanity as they work toward living with one another in a pluralistic world inhabited by billions of individuals with differing religious sensibilities.

 

Defusing the powder keg requires credible and reasonable devotees representing each religion to step forward and publicly announce mutual respect, recognition, and charity. In this spirit, one hundred thirty-eight Muslim scholars, clerics, and intellectuals have taken the magnanimous act of declaring the common ground they find existing between Islam and Christianity. The document is called, A Common Word Between Us and You.

While it is sure to draw criticism from both the Muslim and Christian worlds, A Common Word offers a word of hope for us all.  It recognizes that half of the world's population claims allegiance to these world religions, and that we currently find ourselves at a critical juncture of human history. The first paragraph points out that ours is crucial time for peaceful action. “Without peace and justice between these two religious communities, there can be no meaningful peace in the world. The future of the world depends on peace between Muslims and Christians.”

A Common Word is not an attempt to gloss over differences between Christians and Muslims, nor is it a veiled effort to convert Christians to Islam. It grants that there are significant points of differentiation. In fact, its very title implicitly recognizes the existence of “us” and “you.”  However, those differences do not negate the most significant aspects in the Quran, Torah, and New Testament. Namely, love God with all your heart, and love your neighbor as yourself.

The document states it like this: “Whilst Islam and Christianity are obviously different religions—and whilst there is no minimising some of their formal differences—it is clear that the Two Greatest Commandments are an area of common ground and a link between the Qur’an, the Torah and the New Testament.”

 

I applaud and welcome this move (and others like it), and I thank God that people willingly invest themselves into the heart of what resides in the written sacred texts.  Loving God with all your heart and loving your neighbor as yourself is what I have called Agapetheism.  Agapetheism is relating to God first and foremost in terms of Love.  Throughout the centuries the monotheistic faiths battled against polytheism and each other, all the while ascribing to the credo: Love God and love your neighbor.

 

As Agapetheism invites people to envision God as Love, it calls people to beat their swords into plowshares through the practice in Agapeology.  Agapeology is loving God by loving others and serving God by becoming a servant to others.

 

A Common Word asserts that Islam and Christianity share this fundamental doctrine, and the practice of this belief inevitably leads to world peace. “The basis for this peace and understanding already exists. It is part of the very foundational principles of both faiths: love of the One God, and love of the neighbour. These principles are found over and over again in the sacred texts of Islam and Christianity. The Unity of God, the necessity of love for Him, and the necessity of love of the neighbour is thus the common ground between Islam and Christianity.”

 

In his book Cosmopolitanism, Princeton philosopher Kwame Appiah explores the various ways “love your neighbor” might be understood. He acknowledges that many zealots see it as an opportunity to force (or attempt to force) others into compliance with a certain ideology. It takes the form of “I love you so much that I want you to believe what I believe.” Appiah astutely recognizes a higher form of “love your neighbor,” one that involves something far different. Instead of projecting one’s beliefs onto another, “love your neighbor” includes at a minimum taking your neighbour’s wishes into consideration.

A Common Word concurs with this sentiment. Instead of fostering rivalry over power, A Common Word offers a greater contest, one that calls people of both faiths to consider one another’s wishes and to compete in the arena of service. “So let our differences not cause hatred and strife between us. Let us vie with each other only in righteousness and good works. Let us respect each other, be fair, just and kind to another and live in sincere peace, harmony and mutual goodwill.”

What remains is to see who will accept the challenge. Who will empty themselves of pride and become the love of God in the world? Leading authors, scholars, and leaders of various backgrounds—Jewish, Muslim, Christian, and others—have welcomed A Common Word, including Brian Mclaren, Yale University scholars such as Miroslav Volf, Karen Armstrong, Cardinal Angelo Scola of Venice, The National Council of Churches, The United States Council of Catholic Bishops, and many others.

Today we can see a beam of hope. A Common Word can be a building block in creating a constructive and peaceful world for us all. "Let this common ground [of the love of God and of neighbor] be the basis of all future interfaith dialogue between us.” This is the common ground that will allow humanity to survive and thrive.  People who affirm God must be in the forefront of love, compassion, and generosity, for how can you love God whom you have not seen if you do not love your brothers and sisters whom you have seen?

 

Ultimately, A Common Word offers a breakthrough moment for people of all faiths to recognize that we dishonor God by dishonoring our neighbors. It takes seriously Küng’s invitation to begin the journey to world peace by opening dialogue among religions. Today, we can begin to see that we have just one planet to share, we are all neighbors. So, let us love God in loving one another.

 

 

URL: http://www.presence.tv/cms/soc_a-common-word.php

---

Top of Page

Email Article

Printer