by M. Imad Damaj, Ph.D.

Over 80 people gathered on Thursday evening, April 29, at the Islamic Center of Virginia as part of the second annual trialogue between the Jewish, Christian and Muslim communities in the Bon Air area.  The aim of the dialogue is to deepen a mutual understanding and appreciation among the three Abrahamic religious communities in the area.  It also aims at building mutual respect among neighbors from different religious traditions by empowering them to have a dialogue, understand and know each other.  Understanding and relationship-building among various faith traditions are vital to sustaining America’s tradition of religious freedom, diversity and pluralism and to foster a shared project of one nation.

Some people have expressed skepticism about these encounters and believe that differences in religious doctrines are too wide to bridge and each has its own path.  Others fear that this encounter is going to dilute their religious identities into some “universal” religious mush for all or give the impression that we all equally worship the same God following different paths. 

Dealing with one another with respect, positive engagement, and dialogue does not mean that differences in doctrine and interpretation do not matter. Rather, it means that those differences must be addressed through free and open dialogue.  It is this open, free, and dignified dialogue that allows the followers of various religious traditions to affirm their diversity and discuss their similarities and differences.  People engaged in the dialogue are expected to remain loyal to their traditions in broad outlines while reaching out to the other.  In fact, one of the outcomes of last year’s dialogue is the recognition that one does not need uniformity to seek common ground.  The theological and historical differences between the three religious traditions are considerable, but not impossible to discuss.

The duty of the faithful is, therefore, not to judge others and look down on those who have different understanding of faith, but respect choices and try his or her best to live an upright life and manifest the values of his and her faith through good work and good deeds.  By having these encounters and providing opportunities of positive engagement, we can work toward a more harmonious Richmond region in which all people of good will share concerns in a civil manner, promote hope and not fear, and together enrich the civic life of our community. 

We are an amazingly diverse society but we need to make sure that our encounters are not superficial.  We are all riding the same ship and are increasingly aware of the other people around us, but we are doing just about everything we can to avoid real interaction.  We cannot escape anymore the fact that our neighbors around us are “different” and that we are becoming more and more interconnected. As we struggle to live in an increasingly pluralistic region, we are bound to listen to one another more attentively.  In fact, we should mobilize our resources to address the spiritual crisis and social problems of our day and age. 

In any interfaith engagement, the balance between practical issues and theological dialogue is not easy.  Our dialogue, however, functions in a “beyond-the-talk” kind of attitude in the hope that these encounters will produce concrete results on the ground.  Such dialogue has unveiled a joint community service project with the International Hospital for Children.  The three faith communities are seeking to raise funds ($5,000) to sponsor a critically ill child from South America and bring that child to the one of the local hospitals for treatment.

But much more work remains to be done in order to bring to life the message of love of God and love of the neighbor.

Join us for the next two sessions and know your neighbors!

The second session will be held on May 6 at Bon Air United Methodist Church, located at 1645 Buford Rd., Richmond and the third session will be held on May 13 at OR AMI, located at 9400 Huguenot Rd., Richmond. Both sessions begin at 7 p.m.

Dr. Damaj is the President of the Virginia Muslim Coalition for Public Affairs.