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{"id":1538,"date":"2014-10-26T12:50:54","date_gmt":"2014-10-26T16:50:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildgarden\/?p=1538"},"modified":"2014-10-26T12:50:54","modified_gmt":"2014-10-26T16:50:54","slug":"talking-our-way-to-understanding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildgarden\/2014\/10\/talking-our-way-to-understanding\/","title":{"rendered":"Talking Our Way to Understanding"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

$\"2012-01-30_17-22-01_114\"$ <\/a>The living room dialogue went swimmingly.\u00a0 We started by going around the circle, first person sharing with the person to their left something about their religion that they think is different from everyone else, second person reflecting back what they heard the first person say.\u00a0 Then the second person turned to the third person in the circle, and so forth.\u00a0 No big surprises or problems here.<\/p>\n

Then I asked the group to think about the people who do not understand their religion, perhaps even fear it.\u00a0 They were to repeat the first process by sharing what it is they feel frightens others about their faith.\u00a0 This began to get real \u2013 at last!!!<\/p>\n

We spent the last twenty minutes or so looking back at our articles and discussing points that stood out for us, as well as tying those points back to the exercises we had just done.\u00a0 It was clear that we had crossed a new threshold.\u00a0 People were more relaxed, but also more engaged, more excited about the conversation.\u00a0 It was clear that everyone felt we had done some good work.<\/p>\n

I was pleased because at last it seemed we were really acknowledging our differences rather than glossing them.\u00a0 That acknowledgment must precede any true acceptance of differences.\u00a0 And, by the way, when I say \u201cacceptance of differences\u201d I am not saying we have to agree.\u00a0 I\u2019m saying that we accept that people are different, but still valid as they are.\u00a0 Once we get past that, we can start to learn from and even celebrate those differences, without feeling that we must embrace them as part of our own lives.<\/p>\n

Next month I will visit a new spinoff group in a small town about an hour away.\u00a0 I\u2019ll be the token Pagan until we can recruit some local Pagan interest, but they are nice people and I don\u2019t expect friction.\u00a0 These are the \u201ctrue believers\u201d of interfaith, as my friend John calls them.\u00a0 But perhaps if the true believers keep at it, the warmth of our activities will begin to leak out and thaw the more prevalent ice of religious bigotry.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"