When the at 草莓社区 brings people of different religions together to talk, what鈥檚 the point? Should everyone water down their beliefs in order to find as much agreement as possible? Or, at the opposite extreme, should they be trying to convert each other?
At a March 27, 2014, forum in Martin Chapel, two professors of religion at EMU debated approaches to interfaith engagement that lie somewhere in the middle. Amir Akrami, a visiting Muslim scholar from Iran, argued for 鈥減luralism鈥� as the best approach, while , professor of at Eastern Mennonite Seminary, promoted what he calls 鈥減articularism.鈥�
The forum was led by CIE director .
Every person adheres to a 鈥減articular鈥� belief system and wants others to join him or her in those beliefs, said Nation. At the same time, that doesn鈥檛 mean exposure to other beliefs has no value, he added. 鈥淚 can believe that someone of another faith is profoundly wrong but still learn from them,鈥� he said.
Nation, who did not grow up Christian, expressed concern that many Christians in general 鈥� and Mennonites in particular 鈥� are too willing to allow specific, 鈥渢extured鈥� Christian beliefs to be displaced by more vague, pluralistic ways of thinking.
He was drawn to the Mennonite faith through theologian John Howard Yoder鈥檚 seminal work, The Politics of Jesus, and he is particularly concerned that Mennonites not water down their stance on peace. 鈥淢any young people especially don鈥檛 want any clear convictions and are gravitating towards pluralism,鈥� he said.
Pluralism, though, is exactly what Akrami wants to see. Too many people think their religion is superior to all others and that they have nothing to learn from other faiths, he said. 鈥淲e must hold our particular beliefs but acknowledge that others hold particular beliefs as well,鈥� he added.
To Akrami, pluralism means people must accept that other religions contain truth. 鈥淧luralism is not a new religion or an attempt to reduce our religions to the least common denominator,鈥� he said. 鈥淧luralism is not wishy-washy relativism.鈥�
Akrami, who has been involved in many interfaith dialogues over the years, argued that religious interaction often leads to pluralism. 鈥淚 have learned that I do not possess the whole truth,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 want to be enriched by the truth in other religions while at the same time we challenge each other.鈥�
A visiting scholar at EMU from 2012 through August 2014, Akrami has taught several courses on Islam. This semester he is co-teaching a class on comparative monotheisms with a visiting Jewish scholar and a Mennonite professor.
In Iran, Akrami was a researcher and lecturer at the Iranian Institute of Philosophy. Before that he was a visiting research fellow at the Centre for Islamic Studies and Christian-Muslim Relations at the University of Birmingham in England. He earned a doctorate in the philosophy of religion at McGill University in Montreal, Canada.
Nation has taught at for 11 years. Before joining the faculty, he was founding director of an ecumenical peace and justice organization, pastor in several denominations and director of London Mennonite Centre in England. His doctorate is in theological ethics from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, Calif.
CIE, founded in 2009 and funded by grants and private donations, promotes interaction between people of different faiths, especially the three world religions that worship one God and claim Abraham as one of their forebearers 鈥� Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
We are very lucky to have Seyed Amir at EMU. He is a top-notch thinker philosopher, and very personable. Thanks to CIE for bringing him.