A Look at Interfaith Conversations

Many of our CFs have participated in an interfaith event of some form, such as exhibitions, sports day, a panel session, or a facilitated dialogue between the different religious groups on campus. In multireligious Singapore, these reflect our everyday lives. But aren’t such conversations sensitive? What should our mindset be going into them? One recent graduate looks back and pens her thoughts.

I would hardly consider myself an expert on interfaith dialogue. And yet, it is something I have had the privilege of being a part of, facilitated and even advocated for in a university context. When I first took an interest in the topic during my time in NUS as part of the Varsity Christian Fellowship, my intentions were mixed – partly driven by a desire to love and extend friendship to our neighbours through understanding, but motivated also by the fact that I found the topic exciting and in vogue. It was something that I felt would be well-regarded by the school and would pique the interest of our Christian student populace, as something not often spoken about in churches. Since then, I have come to realise the pitfalls of having an unchallenged assumption of interfaith harmony as something “good” without the backing of a personal conviction towards it. For one, we might end up with hollow motions void of intentionality, posturing for the sake of political correctness. Worse, we risk developing a modus operandi which chases trends and conforms to external, secular standards of what is good and what should be pursued. This would be at the expense of clear priorities and purposeful stewardship of our time and resources.

So, then what would be the case for caring about interfaith dialogue in a climate where there are so many competing demands of what is good and worthy of our attention? There are many reasons. Common ones you might have heard before are: that it is a way to seek the peace and prosperity of this multiracial and religious city we inhabit, and it is a means of extending love to our neighbours. All of this is well and good, but admittedly, there are other ways of doing the above.

What was ultimately the most helpful for me in shaping my views towards interfaith dialogue was the realisation that to seek to have better interfaith conversations is simply to seek to be a better conversationalist and witness for Christ. Let me explain. First, we must recognise that interfaith dialogue is not a meeting of religious systems, but a meeting of complex, multifaceted people, including their religious aspirations and beliefs. These religious beliefs are usually core to people, but are often overlooked and glossed over out of cautiousness and fear of offending others. Interfaith dialogue, hence, challenges us to overcome this fear and to listen to and speak about what matters to us as people of faith. It is not just the faith of others that we seek to understand, but also our own that we seek to authentically and honestly share, resisting the self-censorship that I daresay many Singapore Christians face. It is a way of allowing our friends to come to a conversation as their full selves, and for us to reciprocate by doing the same and expecting to be received with grace.

Even the concept of ‘interfaith dialogue’ is a rather artificial dislocation of conversation, where we isolate one aspect of a person to discuss in typically formal or intellectual settings. I believe it is amidst the increasing secularisation and polarisation of our society that this concept of ‘interfaith dialogue’ finds its footing. Perhaps it is even a product of Western or modern sensitivities. I daresay there are cultures or past eras where conversations involving faith were more natural and commonplace than not. What I mean to say is that perhaps we make interfaith conversations a more alien topic and endeavour than they are. And so, I restate my point that the courage and desire to have interfaith dialogues are a desire for conversations where we seek to know people on deeper levels and to take the risk of being honest and open in the hopes that we will similarly be received with grace.

The question then is not why we have interfaith conversations, but why, as a person of faith, are you not? Are there fears that are holding you back from authentically and openly sharing who you are with the people around you, and are there assumptions you are making about people and their religious beliefs that are stopping you from inquiring into their beliefs and religious aspirations?

– Grace Cheong graduated from NUS in 2023 and is now working as a teacher.