Christianity is one religion that is got to focus on the principles of interreligious dialogue. There are a lot of fights that are happening all over the world in the name of religion. We have a strong belief that Christianity is one faith that is being persecuted in the name of religious differences. Let us not come to a conclusion that people who were killed in the name of religion are Christians, but at least a predominant portion of them are. There are two reasons for why Catholics who preach ecumenism cannot practice it themselves at times. One is they strongly stick to the principle of one true God and getting themselves involved in too much of interreligious activity might keep them away from their doctrine. The second reason is the conversion fever that exists in different sectors of Christianity.
This is the quick overview of the position of interreligious concepts in Christianity. Now moving on further let us see the different factors that support and offend interreligious dialogue in Christianity. To keep things simple let us see why Christianity can and cannot practice the ideology of interreligious dialogue:
Christianity Can’t:
Hard and fast doctrines:
The doctrines of Christianity are hard and fast they stress on the principles of one true God. With that being the case, it is not easy for Catholics nor their institutions to profess the ideologies of Interreligious dialogue on the global forum.
Fear of Conversion:
In the past few the conversion rate in Christianity seems quite high. A lot of people have gotten themselves converted to Christianity. But the truth is that we hardly see any Christianity in it. There are different reasons for which people choose Christianity except for the faith that is present in the religion. So when general Catholics approach people of different faith talking about interreligious faith, people see it only as a source of conversion instead of viewing it as a symbol of unity.
People can point out other reasons as well, but they are possibly the meager ones that can be rooted out. So these are the major reason for why Christianity finds it hard to profess interreligious dialogue.
Christianity Can:
The largest religion in the world:
The simple idea behind ecumenism, which Christianity is already into, is to avoid persecution in the name of religion and to help people choose humanity over faith, caste, and favoritism. So if Christianity is the most followed religion in the world, then there are good chances of Christianity reaching out to a large number of people and preaching the ideals of interreligious faith and dialogue.
Charity works:
A lot of charitable acts are done in the name of Christ, and this charity has gained the trust and love of people from all over the world irrespective of their religion. This will help Christianity to reach out to people through more and more charity and tell them the values of love and charity as the same acts as the base of ecumenism and unity as well.
Principle of love and the act of giving:
The pillars of Christianity as in the way of Christ is nothing more than love for all and the benevolent act of giving. It is not wealth, fame or power. Almost all people understand this one ideology of Christianity. So if Christians follow these principles meticulously, then they can profess interreligious dialogues without any expectation or favor in return.