Interfaith Panel Discusses Role of Religion in Peacemaking

Is the role of religion in societies helping or hindering the quest for peace in the world?
It depends on how it’s used, said a group of panelists that debated the issue Thursday at the University of Minnesota. But they argued that religion is not intrinsically a source of conflict, as widely portrayed in the media.

In fact, “Monotheistic religions have more values in common than they get credit for,” said Kjell Magne Bondevik, a former Norwegian prime minister who is an ordained Lutheran minister.

Joining him in the panel were Imam Makram Nu’Man El-Amin of An-Nur mosque and the Rev. Michael J. O’Connell, pastor of the Church of Ascension, both in Minneapolis; the Rev. Peter Rogness, bishop of St. Paul Area Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; and Rabbi Marcia Ann Zimmerman of Temple Israel in Minneapolis.

El-Amin, O’Connell and Zimmerman are members of a large interfaith group in the Twin Cities that recently traveled to Jerusalem. They struggled with what to call the trip. Each opposed names that might disturb their respective congregations. “That was part of our interfaith dialogue,” said Zimmerman.

The focus of the interfaith effort is to identify common issues and cherish them, said O’Connell. Things like poverty, human rights and health care are universal, he said.

Those issues aside, there are times when religion sparks a conflict between societies of different faiths, particularly Christians and Muslims, said Bondevik. He cited a recent cartoon in a Danish newspaper that lampooned prophet Muhammad as a prime example. And Danish textbooks contained until recently a sentence that read: “All Muslims are not terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslims,” he said. “Many Muslims feel that their religion is considered in the West a second-class religion,” he said, “and that’s humiliation.”

O’Connell said conflicts are often started by “religious absolutists who despise mutual dialogue.” El-Amin said Islam isn’t an absolutist religion. “In the Qur’an, God didn’t promise heaven to Muslims only,” he said, “but to all faithful.”

Bondivik said politicians should be involved in the interfaith efforts, since they make decisions conducive to conflict and peace. He also urged interfaith groups to “begin doing things together rather than just saying things together.” Rabbi Zimmerman and Imam El-Amin said they plan a common fasting day for their Jewish and Muslim congregations sometime this year.