When Sister Marianne Farina asked the crowded church what the word “Islam” means, some people in the congregation shouted out “terror” and “all the same.”
Farina, a theology professor from the University of California, Berkeley, cleared her throat and said that “in fact, the word Islam means submission to God.”
Farina spoke at the St. Catherine of Sienna Newman Center on Sunday about how important it is that educated dialogue between Christians and Muslims not be about debating differences, which leads to violence, but discovering similarities, which are a path to peace. She said the dialogue between the two religions must be focused on insight, not debate or conversion.
Farina’s message mirrored President Barack Obama’s invitation to the Muslim world for a new kind of conversation.
The point of dialogue between Christians and Muslims is not to convert, but to understand, said the Catholic nun.
“Dialogue is not debate, but learning,” Farina said. She said Christians and Muslims must find peace and trust each other by discussing the facts of their own faiths and clearing up misconceptions.
Kathem Alhamdani, a Muslim student, said he was pleased to listen to an educated woman speak wisely and openly about the similarities between Christians and Muslims. He said the Christian parable of the Good Samaritan, a traveler who helped a dying man from an ethnic background in conflict with his own, reminded him of his own Islamic belief, for instance.
“If you see a man dying, and you say nothing, you are killing him as well,” he said.
This sentiment goes seemingly contrary to the statements of Pope Benedict XVI, who gave a controversial lecture in 2006 that some criticized as a misinformed impression of Islam as a violent religion. Farina said that many take the pope’s words as a “giant step backward” for interreligious dialogue and peace. Bombings between Christians and Muslims in Europe and the Middle East ensued in reaction to the lecture.
Father Peter Rogers, pastor of the Newman Center, brought Farina to speak at the annual Aquinas Lecture in light of Obama’s new administration. The wars in the Middle East are not only military or political, but also Christians versus Muslims, and peaceful dialogue between the two religions is a timely subject, he said.
Farina’s message of this peaceful dialogue between one world and another hinged on both sides understanding each other, as well as a willingness to cooperate and trust each other. She said the message reflects Obama’s foreign policy that America wants to begin a new dialogue with the Muslim world, and it is willing to offer a hand to dictators if they are willing “to unclench their fist,” as Obama said in his inaugural address.
Robert Comstock, a Catholic man in attendance, said the peaceful dialogue can help bring an end to the world’s conflicts.
Alhamdani nodded in agreement.
“The prophet Muhammad said, if you don’t find a common ground in religion, we are still brothers in humanity,” Alhamdani said. “We are all creations of God.”
Nate SorensonSister Marianne Farina spoke Sunday about the need for cohesion between Christians and Muslims.