Promoting Peaceful Coexistence and Common Citizenship

[ 86 ] — INTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUE FOR PEACE — oday, diversity is the current state of the world. With the spread of worldwide communication technology and the migration of people to every corner of the earth, we no longer exist in isolated societal, ethnic or religious enclaves. This means that as we socialize and educate each other, we must do so in a way that allows us to respond to and reflect the changing world. There are five principal levels of interreligious dialogue of which interreligious education is one. These are: v Confessional — where one talks, or makes a confession about one’s religious beliefs, especially its benefits to the adherents. v Experiential — a sensitively engaged observation of the religious practices of another person, made to remove distance in relationships. v Relational —where friendships are built with people of other religious beliefs in order to create a peaceful society. v Practical — where we engage one another in dialogue for the direct purpose of putting and end to religious tension, or preventing it. v Informational/Educational — where one educates oneself about the faith of others in order to better understand them. This is where interreligious education comes in. Rev. Dr. Samson Olasupo Ayokunle T