Guidelines for Interfaith Dialogue
Rules for Interfaith Dialogue
Robert M. Brown
1. Each partner must believe the other is speaking in good faith.
2. Each partner must have a clear understanding of his/his own faith.
3. Each partner must strive for a clear understanding of the other’s.
a. There must be a willingness to interpret the other’s faith in the best light, rather than the worst.
b. Each partner must maintain a continual willingness to revise his/her understanding of the other’s faith.
4. Each partner must accept responsibility, in humility and penitence for what his/her group has done, is doing, to foster and perpetuate division.
5. Each partner must face the issues that cause separation, as well as those which create unity.
6. Each partner must recognize that all that can be done with the dialogue is to offer it up to God
The Dialogue Decalogue
Leonard Swidler
I. Dialogue to learn, to change, and to grow, and act accordingly.
II. Dialogue to share and receive from others
III. Dialogue with honesty and sincerity
IV. Dialogue comparing ideals with ideals, and practice with practice
V. Dialogue to define yourself and to learn the self-definition of others
VI. Dialogue with no hard and fast assumptions about someone else’s beliefs
VII. Dialogue to share with equals
VIII. Dialogue in trust
IX. Dialogue in willingness to look at your own beliefs and traditions critically
X. Dialogue seeking to understanding the other person’s beliefs from within
The Interfaith Agenda
Douglas Kindschi, Ph.D.
Tolerance: the ability to endure
Hospitality: receiving the stranger
Understanding: communicating my own views and listening to other views I do not share
Respect: demonstrating regard, esteem, and honor
Acceptance: conversion is not a goal, and perhaps not an option
"Holy Envy:" recognizing admirable elements in other faiths and wanting to reflect those in own faith
Page last modified September 20, 2011
