What is Gandhi's approach to inter-religious dialogue?

how does his approach compare to the catholic churches?What is Gandhi's approach to inter-religious dialogue?In a globalized world, where there is global interdependence and consciousness of the one world but also comparative interaction of different world views, distinct communities, highlighting the virtues of particularism, are bound to produce new cultural conflicts. In such conflicts, religious traditions play a special role, since they can be mobilized to provide an ultimate justification for one's view of the globe. Closely linked to the process of globalization is therefore the problem of interaction between cultural or religious actors and communities holding different views of world order. Therefore, while the very idea of a clash of civilizations is wrong, a civilization of clashes is today’s reality. That is what makes dialogue among cultures and peoples an urgent matter of international politics and global ethics.



But dialogue to be meaningful has to proceed in a spirit of reciprocity, mutual recognition and solidarity. Dialogue to be meaningful has to be infused with cultural broad-mindedness. Intercultural dialogue can be inspired by several considerations and in each case it takes the form of a hermeneutical quest for inter-civilizational reflection on the modes of global existence. This dialogue might be intended to foster mutual understanding.



Or it might be considered as a way of addressing global issues such as climate change. Or it might be undertaken as a process of tolerance education in order to ensure that there will be no more conflict between cultures. The main question then is to know whether in today’s world cultures should, could and would engage in a dialogue with each other. This is a hard question with which Gandhi wrestled in his times, while trying to find an answer for it through his own life experience.



Tolerance, cultural broad-mindedness, mutual understanding are the hallmarks of Gandhian view of religion and politics. Mahatma Gandhi was deeply interested in the comparative study of cultures and religions since the days of his youth. The major portion of Gandhi’s life was spent in dialogue between East and West, between the East of his native India and the West of the colonizers. But his dialogue was not merely with words or ideas or theory, as can so easily become the case in our own day of dialogue.



His was a lived dialogue, springing from his love for Truth (Satya) and nonviolence (ahimsa). He once said: “In order to transform others, you have to first transform yourself.” The heart of Gandhi's message is to first look within one self, change oneself and when the world see's a different you, then it automatically change itself. At a more fundamental level Gandhi, speaking out of his own interpretation of Hinduism, could not see nations — or individual people — as isolated entities, one of which might be chosen by God among all others to play a special role in history.



Therefore, Gandhi rarely spoke in terms of linear world history. His goal for every culture (including his own) was the same as his goal for every individual: to find Truth. This was for Gandhi a way to opening the full truth of the person or reality encountered in a direct, immediate way. For Gandhi, himsa — a selfish desire to control others’ behaviors — inevitably prevented us from direct immediate awareness of truth. At a more philosophical level, in Gandhi’s view every culture can and should learn from others.



As such, Gandhi argues that there is truth in every culture but none represents the Absolute Truth. According to Gandhi, “Preservation of one’s own culture does not mean contempt for that of others, but requires assimilation of the best that there may be in all the other culture ''.



Gandhi is very conscious of talking of the idea of equality of cultures without being accused of cultural relativism. Gandhi was not a genuine relativist but he understood that the world was composed of different and inter-related cultures, each with something profound to give, and he tried to form a bridge among them based on common moral principles. Gandhi believed in the toleration of other cultures because he believed that they are crucial aids to understanding and evaluating one's own.



Gandhi is very conscious of talking of the idea of equality of cultures without being accused of cultural relativism. Gandhi was not a genuine relativist but he understood that the world was composed of different and inter-related cultures, each with something profound to give, and he tried to form a bridge among them based on common moral principles. Gandhi believed in the toleration of other cultures because he believed that they are crucial aids to understanding and evaluating one's own. Gandhi always saw other cultures as equal conversational partners and his plea of equality of cultures was based on the paradigm of inter-cultural spirit which was based on a creative interplay of concepts and values. His greatest ideas, like Satyagraha were neither purely Eastern nor purely Western, but came from a process of living in between cultures.



Finally, derstanding in today’s world. Of course, dialogue without listening and leaning is merely a discussion. Therefore, the Gandhian intercultural dialogue is an important step in being able to understand not only other cultures, but to bring different cultures together and to find a common path towards the future. But most of all, intercultural dialogue is about understanding other people and being able to see under the surface of difference. At the same time, through this interaction we also learn how to understand ourselves – who we are, what is important for us and how we want to live in this world of crisis. Mahatma Gandhi once said that “The future depends upon what we do in the present.” Our task today is not to make cultures ready for cultural conformity but to democratize cultural conformity with a true dialogue of cultures.



Thanks for the opportunity !!!What is Gandhi's approach to inter-religious dialogue?Kill them all, let God sort them out.



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