WCF works to develop better understanding, co-operation
and respect between people of different faiths
|
WCF works to develop better understanding, co-operation and respect between people of different faiths
|
     |
FIDEOLOGY 2004 -A Conference sponsored by the World Congress of Faiths (WCF) and the International Association for Religious Freedom (IARF), Croydon, England, 13 November 2004. At Croydon on the 13th of November, a new English word was defined: "FIDEOLOGY." Fideology is the study and practice of faith as trust. There are many misleading arguments about faith. Millions would say it is belief in God. FIDEOLOGY points out the difference between faith and belief. (see FAITH AND BELIEF by W. Cantwell Smith). Faith is trust. While millions do not have a theology, to be human is to practice trust. The so-called clash of civilisations was a driving force behind the theme of the conference. How can we build trust between different world views? How can we effectively respond to Hans Kung's prophecy, "There will be no peace in the world until there is peace among religions." Trust affects every aspect of human life. In 2002 in Davos, Switzerland, trust was the theme of a global summit of business leaders including Bill Gates of Microsoft. In September 2004, the new Yale Centre for Faith and Culture hosted a conference entitled, “A CRISIS OF TRUST”. Speakers included Baroness Onora O'Neill (author of A Question of Trust), and theologian Jurgen Moltmann. At Croydon after a time of meditation, our conference opened with tributes to Wilfred Cantwell Smith, the late Director of the Centre for the Study of World Religions at Harvard. The first was given by Dr. Harriett Crabtree, Associate Director of the Inter Faith Network, UK. She conveyed a sense of this tall lean man who addressed students as "Mr. and Miss." Who was concerned enough about courtesy to write the Harvard President complaining that calls to the university switchboard were answered by operators who simply said, "Har - vard." The second former student of Cantwell Smith was Dr. John Taylor. Dr. Taylor's career has taken him through the World Council of Churches, the World Conference of Religions for Peace (WCRP) to his present role as IARF Representative in Geneva. Dr. Taylor told of learning from Cantwell Smith "to speak of CHRISTIAN FAITH AND TRADITION rather than CHRISTIANITY, or of MUSLIM FAITH AND TRADITION rather than Islam. One will also be preparing the ground to go deeper into distinctions between FAITH AND BELIEF as Professor Smith himself does in his 1979 Publication of FAITH AND BELIEF." (recently reissued by O Books, Oxford). The morning session on "The Roots of Fideology" was balanced by Dr. Reza Shah-Kazami, who entranced the audience by speaking without notes on "The Quran and other Faiths." He pointed out that Islam does not view itself as a new religion, but rather as a restatement of the faith of humanity. That it reveres Jesus and Moses as Prophets. That in the Quran there are many verses such as "there shall be no compulsion in matters of religion." "What is Fideology?" was the afternoon theme. Dr. Richard Boeke, Secretary of the WCF defined Fideology as "a new word derived from the Latin root of words like Fidelity, Confidence, Bona Fide". It is an alternative to the old word in the OED, Pistiology. This came from the Greek word for faith, Pistis, the word for faith used in the 13th Chapter of First Corinthians: Faith, Hope and Love. Dr. Boeke drew upon the five modes of Immortality of Robert Joy Lifton as a possible framework for a science of Fideology. Ramola Sundram, IARF, Oxford, gave some vivid examples of trying to build trust among young people of different faiths. Dr. Roohi Majid told of her work in the multifaith community of Golders Green in North London. The panel was followed by small groups responding to the talks and dealing with questions such as "Is the breakdown of trust more due to Fundamentalist Religion or to Secularism?" Several of the talks will be published in 2005. Initial plans are underway to hold FIDEOLOGY 2005 at Croydon on Saturday, 12 November. Thanks to Rev. Elizabeth Birtles and the Croydon Unitarian Church for their warm hospitality. Thanks to Rev. Geoffrey Ushe, who chaired the morning session. Thanks to Imam Abduljalil Sajid, who chaired the afternoon session. Despite the tragic choices that put America and Britain in Iraq, we hope to teach the lesson of Oscar Hammerstein, "Unless someday, somebody trust somebody, there be nothing left within this world but fishes." In trust, hope and compassion, Richard Boeke, Secretary, World Congress of Faiths "While belief is theology, trust is religion." - Harry Emerson Fosdick. |
|
Registered Charity No. 244096 Contributions gratefully received. Gift aid welcomed.
|