Interreligious Prayer Essay

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Throughout the years, religions have come together to bring about a new age of interfaith and interconnectedness. There are countless of examples where people have adopted two or more religions as there own, seeing and respecting the relationships and similarities between the two. In hand with this, people are now beginning to understand other religions and respect their practices. There is sort of a hybrid coming about of religions, where communities will pray with each other in a sort of collaboration of respects. However, this change in religion did not come about easily, it took much strife to bring about an interconnectedness that everyone is now a part of. Now that this interconnected and respect occurs in some areas, this can open up …show more content…

Though I do not perform either of these and have not myself, there seems to be a generally good outcome from people coming together and praying, and many people have found peace within themselves through more than one religion. Though D’costa seems to claim that interreligious prayer is only appropriate for certain situations, there should not be a problem a large group of people who feel like they belong to two religions getting together to pray. There should exist no stigma against people who feel compassion for two religions, especially if they are praying for the same goals like peace or justice. However, he is correct in his idea that people can easily misinterpret the intentions of multi-religious and interreligious prayer. Many people are against other religions, solely because a few people from said religion may be extremists. However, this is often a double-standard outlook, being that almost every religion has had some past wrongdoings, for example, the crusades for the Catholics, and the terrorists for Muslims. Therefore, though this stigma may exist, it is wrong in theory. There are many benefits from praying together with other religions in that people’s minds can be expanded, a greater understanding for all people can come about, and an inner peace can be found. Though there may be some clear disadvantages from interreligious prayer, if people whom preform …show more content…

To these individuals, Jesus and Buddha represent the idea of truth to them. One man, Paul Knitter, initially thought that Buddhism was immoral, but has grown to accept its ideas and incorporate them into his Christian ideals. This steams from the idea that we should tolerate other religions, admire them, and help promote the good they bring. There is a concept in Buddhism known as Zen, which is a skill that can enrich one’s own faith. Zen is prayer, and it brings a sort of gratitude and reverence in an individual. Another concept in Buddhism is the idea that everyone is suffering, but a way to relieve this is by decentering of the self, and becoming empty. This emptiness helps people gain life energy, and be closer to God. Additionally, being open allows one to receive love from God and then be able to act as a good member of their religion. Buddhism has the idea that nothing is an individual, and everyone is interconnected, and Christianity claims that it is through compassion and love that we are all connected. It is through this compassion and understanding of connectedness that people can grow to love all sentient beings. Furthermore, the meaning of being human is to wake up to, and open to, the spirit of God that is given to us, and this comes in the form of grace. It is

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