Muslims and Christians trade love poems at Yale
-
- July
- 29
NEW HAVEN—I write from Yale University Law School, where the subject of the morning has not been torts but love.
L.O.V.E.
More than 150 Muslim and Christian scholars from around the world are here to find common ground. And that common ground, they say, is love—love of God and love of the neighbor.
How to translate this shared love of love into real-world understanding is, of course, the real trick. But they are giving it the old (Yale) college try.
This all stems from an open letter last year from 138 Muslim leaders to their Christian counterparts, which focused on love of God and neighbor. This letter provoked numerous responses, among them from a group of scholars at Yale.
And here we are. Everyone agrees that Islam and Christianity must get past their various raging conflicts and find something like peace. And everyone seems to agree that a focus on love is a good way to get going.
But a workshop that just finished on the concept that “God is Loving” was hopelessly academic (and I’m pretty used to religious jargon). One person even stood up to ask how it’s all going to reach the less-academic masses.
The fact that there are almost no reporters here (maybe a dozen, half from outside the U.S.) is not promising. But you have to start a dialogue somewhere, right?
One of the main forces behind the Muslim letter and this conference, Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad of Jordan, warned that the growing animosity between Christians and Muslims can lead to war or genocide if someone doesn’t step up to the plate and do something. He’s trying.
It is an impressive gathering. There are big-name Muslim leaders from Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Bosnia, Kosovo, Indonesia, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria, Jordan and on and on.
Prince Ghazi drew one of the only laughs of the morning from a pretty serious crowd. He talked of meeting with the Dalai Lama to bring Buddhists into the loving conversation.
“I would like to say this,” Prince Ghazi said. “He is a lot nicer than you Christians.”
I have very limited Wi-Fi access here, so I don’t know if or when I’ll be able to post again…
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, July 29th, 2008 at 12:10 pm by Gary Stern.
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The world of religion, we don't have to tell you, is vast. The purpose of this blog is for Stern to note, flag and comment on some of the more interesting religious developments on the scene – weighty and quirky, somber and laughable, far away and just down the road. He won't interpret Scripture, take sides in conflicts or judge anyone. But he will take advantage of the journalist's license to observe.
