Dialogue and Religious Otherness: Toward a Model of Pluralistic Interfaith Dialogue

Abstract

In our global age, encounters with religious others are no longer isolated occurrences. Because of increased interfaith contact, many individuals are engaging in sense-making processes, trying to grapple with the inevitable tensions associated with subjectivity, especially when one is in the presence of the religious other. This essay addresses these processes and tensions by offering a model of pluralistic interfaith dialogue. In addition, we analyze two case studies using four paradigms of religious otherness. Literatures from both dialogue theory and religious pluralism are reviewed and the essay concludes with a discussion of the intersection between postmodernism and religious pluralism.

Keywords:

• Interfaith
• Dialogue
• Pluralism
• Model Development

Notes

1. The concept of a closed system in this context refers to the rejection of the experiences and traditions of the religious other. Conversely, an open system exists when a person is amenable to the experiences and traditions of the religious other.

2. A note about what this project is (and is not). We do not advocate a “cookie cutter” one size fits all approach to pluralistic dialogue. We heed Condit's (1993) warning that “totalizing” theory can “act as blunt weapons rather than delicate instruments” (p. 182). We thoroughly embrace the fluidity, spontaneity, and unpredictability of dialogue.

3. In common usage, pluralism denotes “the belief that no single explanatory system or view of reality can account for all the phenomena of life” (The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, n.d., pluralism).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

James A. Keaten

James A. Keaten (Ph.D.) is affiliated with the School of Communication, University of Northern Colorado, USA

Charles Soukup

Charles Soukup (Ph.D.) is affiliated with the University of Northern Colorado, USA