From the margins to the centers of power: the increasing relevance of the global interfaith movement

Cross Currents, Spring, 2005 by Patrice Brodeur

Interfaith (2) dialogue across the diversity of religious identities has moved from the margins of Western society in 1893 to multiple centers of power worldwide within slightly more than one hundred years. What was once a concept has now become a global interfaith movement. Awareness of this reality emerged internationally in the aftermath of September 11th, 2001, starting with the overwhelming interfaith responses to the call by President Bush to mourn the victims of these terrorist acts publicly on Friday, September 14th. On that day, the interfaith movement became common public knowledge in the United States. Simultaneously, around the world the need for interfaith dialogue was identified as an urgent solution to counterbalance extremist religious violence. The global interfaith movement had suddenly moved to the center stage of world attention.

What are the main characteristics of this global interfaith movement? And what are the new challenges and opportunities to increase its relevance in light of this recent move from the margins to many of the centers of power worldwide? In this article, I will suggest brief answers to these two questions, recognizing the provisional and limited nature of my suggestions.

A brief overview of the global interfaith movement can reveal at least six main characteristics. First, there is a unique history out of which this movement emerged with one social location: Chicago. Much later, especially after WWII, a set of interconnected social locations developed first in the West and then worldwide. Second, the uniqueness of the interfaith movement lies predominantly at a perceptual level, that is, dialogue affects our perceptions regarding identity similarities and differences. Attitudes, especially regarding religious others, are transformed from the old historical places of mistrust and fear that have generated centuries of polemical and apologetic forms of discourse at the heart of religious violence, to open spaces of self-discovery triggered by personal human encounters that lead to deep personal spiritual transformation and new levels of trust with others. This trust is what then allows for collective interfaith endeavors of cooperation to emerge to address the common needs of humanity. Third, the exponential growth of the interfaith movement in recent years is happening within a new emerging network culture, which is the result of the revolution in information technology. Fourth, this network culture shapes the diversity of forms (methodologies) and contents (goals) of every interreligious organizations. Fifth, the new self-awareness which participants in this global interfaith movement have of themselves within its widespread reality is glocal in nature, that is, the awareness is a reflection of a complex process of perception that integrates various local and global variables. Finally, traditional centers of power in human decision-making have taken notice of this new human phenomenon and have often responded creatively, thus increasing the relevance of the global interfaith movement.

The history of the global interfaith movement harks back to one social location, Chicago, where was hosted the 1893 Parliament of the World's Religions as part of its World's Columbian Exposition. This unique location in space and time is the beginning point for the modern interfaith movement. What is less well known is how a new attitude of non-proselytizing came to prevail during the Parliament in an otherwise conservative Christian milieu. Several factors coincided to create this new space, three of which are: the new travel technologies resulting from the industrial revolution; the new philosophies, both political and theological, that emerged from the growing Western scientific discourse; and the new colonial discoveries about the diversity of human cultures. The idea of World Fairs combined all of these factors. Yet one factor in particular made the Chicago parliament unique within the history of World Fairs: its American social location allowed new forms of religious explorations, such as the new concept of interfaith dialogue, because of the social impact of the First Amendment of the US Constitution. It was often easier for progressive thinkers in the United States to retain their own religious identity and practices while exploring new (to them) forms of religious world views. This attitude of open exploration is what guided key organizers of the 1893 Parliament to insist on creating a space where traditional Christian proselytizing was not acceptable and a wide range of invitations were sent out, even attracting one Buddhist monk from Japan, a young Hindu swami from India (the famous Vivekananda), and an American convert to Islam, among many others. Yet, this openness had real limits too since indigenous peoples were part of exotic displays on the outside mall rather than on the Parliament's inside stage to dialogue with all the invited participants.

The Chicago Parliament of the World's Religions was a historic event of great importance for the future of religious tolerance and new concepts of religious pluralism in the world. The Parliament indirectly paved the way for the establishment of all interfaith organizations, starting in Boston in 1900, with the first proto-multi-religious organization, which is known today as the International Association for Religious Freedom. Others followed: World Congress of Faiths (London, 1936), Temple of Understanding (New York, 1962), the World Conference on Religion and Peace (Tokyo, 1970), etc.