Ulterior Motives in Interfaith

I am relatively new to the interfaith movement. I started my studies to become an Interfaith Minister in 2016 and have been operating as one for less than a year. Based on my personal interactions, I have nothing but positive things to report. I have found that people who are willing to affiliate themselves with the interfaith events are doing so to create harmonious relations and increase their understanding of people who believe differently than they do. I have yet to meet a person who is flying the interfaith flag and has an ulterior motive.

If I Can’t See It…

However, I am not blind to the workings of the world and know that even if I can’t see ulterior or hidden motives, it doesn’t mean that they don’t exist.

Part of my preparation for entering the world of interreligious interactions was to call interfaith organizations around the country. I spoke to everyone who was willing to give me fifteen minutes of his or her time. Of course, that included iACT in Austin, just north of where I live, but I also spoke to people from California, Tennessee, Minnesota, and Illinois, to name a few.

Near the end of our conversations, I asked each person the same question: Is there something else about hosting interfaith events that I need to know about?

Cover and Conversion

There were two ulterior motives that all of the people I spoke to agreed on. They told me that some people used interfaith events to create cover for radical or extreme ideas while others used interfaith events to try and convert others to their religion.

I had read about the cover aspect, about extremists who posed as interfaith activists to gain positive coverage but were spreading radical and divisive ideas in their places of worship. From what I’ve been told, this is exceedingly rare and happens more abroad than it does in our country (just because it gets on the news, doesn’t mean that it is happening all over).

The conversion aspect, however, seemed to be more pervasive. People approach interfaith events with the intent to convince and finally convert participants to their religion. It’s not common by any means, but all of the people I spoke with said that it happened more often than they were comfortable with.

I must stress that I am recounting second-hand information—but it seems relevant. It came from trustworthy people who all agreed on these two items without being directly prompted.

Remaining Open Yet Aware

Knowing about these ulterior aspects has not changed my view. I believe that interfaith efforts are of great importance in our time, both as a means to create harmony between belief systems (which includes harmony between atheists and religious people) and as a vehicle for interreligious or interspiritual exploration.

However, it is important to be aware of these reported efforts. They should not create automatic suspicion—as that would go against the very intent of what the interfaith movement intends—but every person who is involved in interfaith should be made aware.

Let me clarify. Awareness is not the same as suspicion. Suspicion assumes the worst and is looking for proof to justify itself. Awareness is to see things clearly, as they are.

Growing Movement

The interfaith movement is gaining momentum these days. People from all faiths are waking up to the importance of dialogue and harmonious relations.

Sadly, opposition is also growing. Recently, I have read at least two articles about politicians who see the interfaith movement as a subversive effort to dilute religion.

That is why we, the people who belong to the interfaith movement, must remain aware. If politicians are looking to the interfaith movement for divisive fodder, it would only take a couple of well-publicized instances of cover or conversion to create a negative public opinion.

By remaining aware, we can reduce the likelihood of that happening.

Gudjon Bergmann
Interfaith Minister, Author, and Speaker
Founder of Harmony Interfaith Initiative

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Picture: Pixabay.com CC0 License