Fostering peace amidst multi-religious communities: Reflections on inter-religious dialogue

Abstract

Cultural prejudices and religious biases have often come in the way of sustainable peace among Nations and communities. In the current milieu, the geopolitics that we witness often result in ethnic and National conflicts on the basis of religious identities. One of the most significant ways to address these conflicts to ensure peace in an ethical partnership is to foster a culture of dialogue amongst religions. In order to further the cause of interreligious dialogue, we may well look into possible metaphysical/theological commonalities across religions for a start by way of comparative theology. Nonetheless, Inter-religious dialogue needs to be taken to the socio-cultural dimensions of everyday life from the hallowed portals of theology or metaphysics in order to facilitate peace. Thus, a dialogue in terms of mutual appreciation of quotidian practices is very much desirable for bringing religious harmony and thereby sustainable peace.