Assalamu ´alaikum! Shalom ´aleikhem! Peace be with you! ** A New Paradigm of Pluralism: THE RAINBOW

Trialogue with
Yehezkel Landau, Muhammed Hourani and H.E. Bishop Kamal-Hanna Batish

”Sharing the Holiness of Jerusalem” Yehezkel Landau
I am greatful for this opportunity to reflect, together with a Christian and Muslim speaker, on the holiness of our common mother city, Jerusalem. Both the psalmist, in Psalm 87, and the apostle Paul, in Galatians, Chapter 4, view the Holy City as a great-mother-icon, an embodiment of the maternal side of God. How can we, children of the One God, of our common forefather Abraham, and of our common mother Jerusalem, enjoy the city´s scared bounties with humble gratitude, and without jealousy toward our siblings of different faiths? How can we transform the bloody history of this city into a future of shared promise and fulfillment? ...

... It pains me beyond words to see how some of my Jewish co-religionists defend injustice and violence by reference to Torah teachings. To me this is chilul hashem, desecreation of God´s name and of the holy Torah. But Jews are not alone in this kind of disgraceful behavior: Muslims and Christians (along with Buddhists, Hindus and others) can be as fanatical and hateful in name of religion.

I believe we are passing through a transitional phase in human culture and spiritual evolution, and that early in the new millenium, a more pluralistic paradigm of what constitutes truth, including religious truth, will emerge. Until now, our respective traditions have been jealous rivals in the competition for Divine favor. Over the centuries, we have been long-distance runners in a spiritual marathon, believing that only one competitor could win the gold medal, and that the rest of them would either lose in disgrace or have been to make do with inferior prizes. How much evil and suffering have been caused by such theological selfglorification? None of our traditions is innocent in this regard. We have all succumbed, at one time or another, to such arrogance and blindness. In meetings such as this we need to acknowledge our failings and approach one another in humility and repentance.

The Paradigm of the ”Holy Rocket”
I teach at the Tantur Ecumenical Institute, between Jerusalem and Bethlehem. The Institutes rector, Fr. Thomas Stransky , an American Paulist priest, uses a striking metaphor to illustrate how the three Abrahamic faiths have developed in mutual estrangement, each convinced of its own triumphal truth. His metaphor - which I will embellish a bit here - is of a holy rocket launched by God to bridge the gap between heaven and earth, and to bring Divine healing to our wounded world.

The Jews believe that the ”flight plan” for this holy rocket was revealed at Sinai, as the Israelites journeyed through the wilderness between Egypt and the promised land.
According to this flight plan, revealed in Hebrew (the only language God speaks), the trajectory takes the Jews from that smoking and thundering mountain into the air, but not outside the earth´s gravitational pull (for we Jews are very down-to-earth, practical people). The rocket travels in a small arc, just a few hundred kilometers northwords, and lands in Jerusalem. The metaphorical road from Sinai to Jerusalem has often been a Via Dolorosa for the Jews. But in the messianic future, the rest of humanity will come up to Jerusalem to join us, learning Hebrew in an ulpan (Hebrew language school) in order to study Torah with us, and coming to appreciate that we are the carriers of the true revelation all along.

Christianity came next and proclaimed that a new flight plan had been revealed through Christ, this time in Greek. According to this new understanding, the original rocket launched at Sinai was, in fact, a two-stage projectile. The first stage, code named Israel of the Flesh, had completed its task, and the trust of Divine energy had now passed to the second stage of the rocket, the spiritual and true (verus) Israel, namely the Church. Moreover the new flight plan contained a midcourse correction. The new trajectory took the second stage out of the earht´s gravitational field into outer space, where the celestial Jerusalem awaited the pilgrim who wanted to meet the Divine in the devotional heart, not in a particular land or city. The Church declared that one day, the whole world would come on board the second stage, including the Jews, and that in the meantime, those who chose not to join the Christian fellowship would suffer the consequenses of their refusal - either in this world as accursed wanderers, or in the metaphysical realm of hell, or both. Ofcourse the bitter irony of this highly conditional dispentation of grace was juxtaposed with unconditional Divine love.

But God has a sense of humor that is more ironic, and much less brutal. For after six centuries, a third monotheistic tradition emerged, this one also laying claim to the earlier prophecies and promises and affirming a new flight plan for the holy rocket. Islam saw itself as the final stage of a three-stage-rocket. The Arabic text of the holy Koran now offered the truset plan for the rocket´s trajectory, as global in scope as that of christianity, but with this-wordly criteria of holiness similar to those of the Jews. Until the Day of Judgment, the caliphate on earth would serve as the realm of Divine dispentation, with the Islamic umma (community) now acting as the vanguard carrier of the Divine revelation. Muslims now sat at the rocket´s controls, but Jews and Christians were also onboard, as believers to be protected, not condemned, by the dominant Muslim community. Islam would eventually spread to cover the earth, by persuasion if possible, and by force if necessary.

One can argue over which flight plan has resulted in the most harm to other communities throughout history. In my view, political pressures rather than purely religious dictates, have played a role in this regard. What is undeniable is that all three of the flight plans are self-centered and self-glorifying. No equality is permitted between the three traditions, and so no pluralistic or inclusive vision is possible. Divine truth and love go together, both limited by some scarity principle. At the end of time, one, and only one, community will ”win” the marathon of sacred history and be vindicated.

This paradigm of exclusive truth and dispensation is need of radical overhaul. If religion is to be a force for good, for life and for blessings, it must undergo a metamorphis and become a force for inclusive, truly unconditional love. This is not a defense of relativism. It is instead a recognition of pluralism within the monotheistic family. The one God of history has chosen to reveal the same essential message in different languages, or symbol systems, through different messengers, at different times. If the adherents to these traditions would focus more on Godly (i.e. just and compassionate) behavior toward others, and less on demonstrating their supremacy over them, suraly God´s name would be more genuienly glorified by the faithful, and religion would be more attractive to the skeptical and the nonbelievers.

A New Paradigm of Pluralism: The Rainbow
A new paradigm must be found for a more pluralistic notion of Divine revelation. One Biblical image that could be acceptable to all three monotheistic traditions is that of the rainbow revealed to Noah after the flood, as a sign of the covenant between God and all humanity (whatever subcovenants may come later). A rainbow radiates many different colors, no one more beautiful than the next, while the sum of the spectrum has a beauty greater than any individual color. ...”

Jag hade förmånen att få möta Fr. Thomas Stransky, som citeras i ovanstående artikel, vid konferensen "Two Millenia of Christianity in Jerusalem". För mig är hans liknelse om ”Guds Heliga raket” mycket tänkvärd. Över huvud vad som slår mig är att de människor jag möter på plats i Jerusalem har en mycket generös attityd gentemot utövare av andra religioner. Yehezkel Landau förespråkar t o m ”A New Paradigm of Pluralism: The Rainbow” – ett nytt sammanhang där vår egen färg / karaktär förstärks av de andra.

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”A Muslim Approach to the Dialogue in Jerusalem in the New Millenium”
Muhammad Hourani
”In my country there are two nations: the Palestinian Arabs and the Israeli Jews, and although they are cousins, they are quite different, each with a distinct culture, religion and language. Perhaps this is why both sides have so far long failed, both literally and metaphorically, to understand each other. ...

In the context of desert life, in which the Bedouins, an illiterate people, were perpetual wanderers, a high value was placed on the ability to read and write. The prophet Mohammed sought to create a reading nation, like that of the Jews, and to provide his people with a book similar to that of the ”people of the book”. It is no surprise then, that the Quran begins with verses promoting reading: ”Read, read in the name of God the Creator” (XCVI.1). Moreover, the prophet understood that such goals could only be attained in the context of a stable lifestyle, and so the Quran presents a negative outlook on Bedouins and their wanderings. ...

The multiplicity of religions and nations in the world is no coincidence; it is a manifestation of the Lord´s desire for pluralism. ...

A Call for Dialogue and Peaceful Coexistence
I therefore turn to my Muslim colleagues and ask them to join in the dialogue of peace. In a world that has become a global village, and in the era of electronic communications, there is no place for a policy of ”We and them”. In our worldwide village, there is no room for the dichotomy of Dar El Islam and Dar El Harb - the world of peace and the world of war - which existed in constant conflict with each other.

We must join the rest of the world in building a future of prosperity, happiness and peace for all. It is the duty of each religion to create a better future for its beleivers, and so we cannot retreat, nor can we continue to hark back to the past instead of looking forward to the future.

Friends and colleagues: In order to bring about such a future we must adopt some of the values of the modern world, including democracy and equality, pluralism and peace. For more than 200 years the Islamic world has been trying to open up and become a part of the modern world in the areas of economics and politics and through participation in international organazations and cultural activites. We must increase our efforts in this direction, for our sake and for the future of our children.

Many may not want to hear what I have to say about the political situation in this region, but I feel it is my right and duty to make the following statemants: It is time for both Palestinians and Jews to abandon the slogan ”This country is all mine”. The solution to our conflict lies in historical and psychological compromise. I believe that in the last five years a change has been taken place in our country, and it is our duty to help all the sons of Abraham - the Palestinians and the Jews - to find a place under the sun of our Holy land.

... Although we live side by side in Jerusalem, we do not actually live together. Each side has its share of fear and suffering, but we must stop blaming each other. We must look to our shared religious values to overcome our differences, even as we remain deeply committed to our respective traditions.”

Muhammad Hourani är ganska tuff i sin analys av sin egen kontext. Han påtalar den muslimska världens svårigheter att bli en del av den ”moderna världen”. Han påtalar även att lösningen till de många problem som finns i det Heliga landet endast ligger i kompromissens väg. Jag anser att Muhammad Hourani mer talar om politisk dialog och politiska frågor än religiösa dito. Det belyser den problematik som jag förut påtalat; för flertalet muslimer i det Heliga landet är den mångreligiösa dialogen en ”lyx”. Vad som behövs nu är att överleva fysiskt och då blir t ex politiska, sociala och ekonomiska frågor mer intressanta.

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”Toward the third Millenium: A Message of Unity and Peace for Jerusalem”
H.E. Bishop Kamal-Hanna Batish

Assalamu ´alaikum! Shalom ´aleikhem! Peace be with you! ...

One Holy City, Three Monotheistic Religions
Here in Jerusalem, side by side, live three monotheistic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Their followers all claim to be the children of Abraham, the first and model believer in the One God Most High. They recognize and accept many prophets of the Lord. They share many common teachings on God, creation and life everlasting. They all venerate to the highest extent the city of Jerusalem because it belongs to God and signifies His presence on earth: ”For God has chosen Zion, he has desired it as a house ´Here shall I rest for evermore, here shall I make my home as I have wished´ ”(Ps. 132: 13-14). All over the world Jews, Christians and Muslims long for Jerusalem, and here, where they live side by side, they all consider Jerusalem their own city. Jerusalem, however, is Gods city. It can be ours only in as much as we come close to God and to God´s mind and love for all. ”Look at Tyre, Philistia, Ethiopia, so and so was born here. But of Zion it will be said: ´Everey one was born there´, her guarantee is the Most High” (Ps. 86: 4-5).

Is this cruel destiny, or rather God´s plan to have all his human children meet and achieve reconciliation? Could it not be God´s plan to have a message go forth from Jerusalem to the whole world?

It is sad to see believers of these three religions meeting in Jerusalem only to fight for Jerusalem. No doubt the present social and political circumstances - full of enmity, greed, jealousy, fear, anger and hatred - make it seem almost impossible to ”pray for peace of Jerusalem” (Ps. 21:6). Indeed, in Jerusalem it is difficult to separate, in our thoughts, and even more so in our behaviour, the religious, social and political aspects of our life: Each influences the other in neverending cycles. And yet, even for believers, this influence does not extend to God´s command, expressed through his prophets: ”Peace! Peace! When there is no peace!” (Jer. 6:14; Ezek. 13:10). If only our leaders would heed God´s call. ...

Christians and Dialogue in the New Millennium
... We therefore have been directed by the Holy Father John Paul II to look with ”grateful openess” to all religions. although we may apply this openness first toward all Christian sister churches, it clearly extends also to the major religions in the world and particularly to Judaism and Islam, because of the privileged relation between our faiths.

The Holy Father´s instructions on the Occasion of the Great Jubilee
The following guotations are taken from the Holy Father´s apostolic letter announcing the Great Jubilee, Tertio Millennio Adviente (November 10, 1994), and from his Message for World Peace Day in 1997 entitled Grant Forgiveness and Receive Peace.

On the necessity of dialogue: ... The truth is that one cannot remain a prisonor of the past, for individuals and peoples need a sort of healing of memories, so that past evils will not come back again. (message, no 3).

The time has come for a resolute decision to set out together on a true pilgrimage of peace, starting from the concrete situation in which we find ourselves. (Message, no 1)

On ecumenical dialogue between Christians: ... Among these (forms of cuonterwitness and scandal), the divisions which harm the unity of Christians are of singular importance. As we prepare to celebrate the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000, we must together seek Christ´s forgiveness, beseeching the Holy Spirit to grant the grace of full unity. (Message, no 7).

On interreligious dialogue: Two commitments should characterize in a special way the third preparatory year (1999): meeting the challenge of secularism and dialogue with the great religions ... (Tertio, no 52)

The eve of the year 2000 will provide a great opportunity... for interreligious dialogue... In this dialogue the Jews and the Muslims ought to have a preeminent place ... In this regard, attention is being given to finding ways of arranging historic meetings in places of exaptional symbolic importance like Bethlehem, Jerusalem and Mount Sinai as a means of furthering dialogue with Jews and the followers of Islam. and to arranging similar meetings elsewhere with the leaders of the great world religions. (Tertio, no 53)

The Holy Father also asked us to pray throughout the year 1999, the last to prepare the Great Jubilee of the year 2000, saying: ”Father, rich in mercy, may the holy Jubilee be a time for openess, of dialogue and encounter, among all who believe in Christ and with the followers of other religions: in your immense love, be bountiful in mercy to all!” ...

To Partake in dialogue
Interreligious dialogue, or trialogue, requires more than just the good will of the participants. I would like to point out at least some of the basic conditions necessary for truly constructive dialogue:
• The first condition is that each side must eliminate previous prejudices about the other and look ahead in order to build, rather than backward to destroy. In other words, all parties need a healing of memories from the past and something I would call ”a charge of positive good will” for the future.
• The parties must recognize each other´s existence as partners in dialogue; a dialogue cannot exist without at least two different points of wiew.
• A dialogue means to accept one another as we are, and as equal human beings; our three monotheistic religions teach us that God has created all human beings as equals, from the same origin and with the same attention and love.
• Each side must be prepared to accept and respect the other´s equal rights, obligations and freedoms, for Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other” (Ps. 85:11).
• Dialogue requieres us to be courageous enough to sacrifice when necessary, and never to entertain jealous or greedy thoughts towards the other. The fruit of justice is sown in peace by those who make peace (James 3:18).

When we can accept the equality of all humans as God´s creations - regardless of nationality, color, race, religion or class, and regardles of character, intelligence or the range of human traits that distinguish people from one another - only then can we be content enough to love others as ourselves. And only then can we love freely, unencumbered by aggresion, jealousy and hatred.

Cooperation for Common Positive Values
Religion, and particularly monotheism, must never be a cause of division; rather, it should bring people together, united in God and for God! Sincere interreligious dialogue means remaining open to believers of other religions while maintaining full fidelity to one´s own faith. By opening our hearts and minds to others while remaining true to ourselves we keep religion where it was meant to be: always on the side of human beings, of the poor and the weak, of tolereance and solidarity, of love and peace.

As the third millenium approaches, then, let us pursue authentic interreligious dialogue, in Jerusalem and elsewhere, with the true spirit of religion. We believers of the three monotheistic religions have, in our creed, so much to share. We have such a broad ground of common beliefs to guide us. Our dialogue would give all the righteous people tremendous strenght to guide the world in pursuing the ways of tolerance and understanding.

We must also remember that our dialogue should not be kept exclusively on the academic level. ... We must prepare, without delay, on both the practical and spiritual levels: first by educating our faithful in the importance of openess and dialogue, and then by taking concrete action. ...”

Den katolska kyrkans ”uppmjukning” i relation till det judiska folket och den judiska religionen har förut berörts av Rabbi David Rosen. Biskop Kamal-Hanna Batish förtydligar här den katolska kyrkans positionering. Han citerar påven som i Tertio nr 52 betonade vikten av att möta sekularismens utmaningar och vikten av att föra dialog med de ”stora” religionerna. Biskopen betonar hur mycket gemensamt vi som bekänner oss till någon av de tre monoteistiska religionerna har. Han talar även om tolerans och förståelse. Mycket har hänt, mycket händer och mycket kan hända fort i vår tid med denna nya attityd som katolska kyrkan ger uttryck för.