Celebrate common truths, values and goodwill
Reconciliation between different religions is more important now than ever
EACH year, on December 16, South Africans celebrate the Day of Reconciliation which was introduced in 1994 as a way to heal the rift between the people of South Africa and bring harmony to a nation still suffering from decades of injustice. Celebrating this day involves a deep look at our lives and the world we live in.
While reflecting on the upcoming Reconciliation Day, the news broke that the US President Donald Trump recognised Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
Protests that erupted in the wake of this announcement show that Trump’s decision will undoubtedly have dangerous repercussions not only on the stability and security of the region, but will inflame the passions of Muslims around the world, threatening reconciliation and peace.
Not only is the Western or Wailing Wall in Jerusalem considered by Jews as their holiest place and remnant of the original temple, but this site is also considered holy by the Palestinians, as two famous and prominent mosques are built there. Both sides claim the holy city as their capital. During the past year we read a lot about acts of terror by extremist religiou s groups around the world which badly influenced perceptions regarding religion.
Fortunately, this is almost non-existent in South Africa. Over years, people in our country have been integrated quite well socially, economically and politically.
Here, especially in the Western Cape, people from Muslim and Christian backgrounds, marry each other. We are very fortunate in South Africa that religious pluralism is widely respected.
For Muslims their places of worship are “holy”. From here they serve their communities – including those belonging to other religions – in different ways without trying to make Muslims of these people.
We should acknowledge and respect one another’s religious views. Indeed, there are so many similarities regarding the content and focus of, for example, our prayers, meditations and the mystical.
And in this we should find joy. There are enough attempts which try to divide people, especially people from different religions, like Trump did with his controversial declaration.
Let’s rather talk to one another and celebrate the many truths, values and goodwill that we have in common.
The Spirit of the Divinity belongs not only to the Christian faith. The Spirit existed long before there were Christians. This Spirit inspired men, women and children in different ways on their paths of holiness, compassion, forgiveness, hope and love, to name a few. God cares for all God’s children. God does not need one of us, despite our status and power, to protect God.
God created all people in God’s image and has equipped us with, among other things, an awareness of truth, beauty, goodness and justice. And all these features have, for those who believe, only one origin – namely God. God does not want to be limited to only one place, to a specific time or group of people. We all, who regard ourselves as religious people, worship the same Source / Origin, only in different ways.
Why would God bind God to only one single form of revelation? Is the road to God not wide open? To me God is a supple God.
There is a Yogic greeting, namaste: “The God in me greets the God in you; The Spirit in me meets the same Spirit in you”. In other words, it recognises the equality of all, and honours the sacredness of all. Could this not be a wonderful motto for meaningful and peaceful coexistence?
I know many Muslims (also Jews and other religious people) who are moral giants. Champions of justice and dedicated peacekeepers. Exceptional when it comes to compassion for a fellow human being. People who constantly seek reconciliation and who will offer their lives in the interest of their fellow human beings (also of another faith).
As a Christian, I only have the highest regard for so many good and exemplary Muslims. Wonderful believers whose religious “treasures” should be acknowledged and respected. Since the provocative news about Trump broke, I was thinking a lot about the words of Hans Küng, the Roman Catholic theologian:
Can there be any doubt about how we ought to act towards one another within God’s rich, and strange grace, as persons belonging to different religions? We are fellow (spiritual) travellers.
Arrogance and exclusivist, narrow views of God are unwise. We know the disastrous consequences of this. It lies scattered through world history. Arrogant people often make bad decisions.
May God bless us, the God with the many names, the God of love, mercy, reconciliation, peace and hope; may God bless our country, the world and her people; may God help us to treat our fellow beings with dignity, compassion and equality. May we, through dialogue, discover that the sparks of God’s Light shine in all religions.
Trump’s irresponsible announcement won’t impact positively on the following sigh of Küng: “When will the endless dispute over the Holy Land ever be settled? When will the war be ended, the tragedy… be over?”