Fundamentalism and interfaith dialogue

I had the privilege of participating in Colorado State’s first “Better Together” Day: a collaborative effort of various faith ministries on campus. The point was to wear a nametag with your faith affiliation on it so you could find someone of a different faith tradition to talk to and learn from. There were “Christian,” “Jewish,” and “Atheist” labels along with more creative ones: “Spiritual but not religious,” “Love is all you need,” and “It’s all good as long as you don’t try and convert me” (I liked that one best).

Me, well, I briefly considered “Jewish-born Christian” and “Jewish-born Christian with agnostic tendencies,” but in the end I settled on simply “Christian.” I like my labels to be neat and uncomplicated, even if that means people might make assumptions about me that aren’t completely true.

Those details were bound to come out in conversation anyway. This circle alone consisted of Christians (one Greek Orthodox), Jews, an agnostic, atheist, and a Catholic (I’m on the far left in the blue shirt and sunglasses).

I don’t know how other conversations went, but this one seemed to discuss religious background more than our current beliefs. I’m continually fascinated at how some people raised secular grew up to become religious, while others raised religious ended up secular. Me, I fall into the former category. Perhaps Christian parents should raise their kids without religion to guarantee they come to church?