Essay Sample on Inter-Religion Tolerance: Engage in Dialogue for Peaceful Coexistence

Introduction

The context of ministry is the world. Trying to find out our roles in the world as a way to promote ministry to ensure that people of different religions coexist peacefully, and tolerate each other. In daily life, when we interact, we have a role to play in enhancing inter-religion tolerance through dialogue. Based on a community strategy, interconnected interactions among all the members of society who come together to improve better survival and endurance of each other regardless of their religious inclination.

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Thesis Statement

Based on the available information than ever before, believers must be prepared to assess the various religions that they are practicing, and identify whether or not it is sufficient faith or if it has misleading information based on religion. Through dialogue, many individuals tend to understand the difference between opinions from legitimate, real information is integral, and learning to tolerate the divergence in religion practices between Santeria and Catholicism.

Review of the Historical and Cultural Context of Santeria and Catholic Values and Beliefs

Dialogue participants must reveal the beliefs that they hold closest and that define their religious tradition. On the interreligious dialogue, both the churches and people who participate must be well conversant with the traditions of the churches. The Santeria, not like the Roman Catholic, has a tradition of using herbalist in which they have a tradition of healing practice, which has a spiritual aspect (Adogame, 2010). The dialogue participants must showcase their level of conversant with this belief of the Santeria; they must have the faith holding onto both religions. In the dialogue, it must be known that in Santeria, the world flows with the primal life e energy or the growth; this is usually forced towards completeness and the divinity of the traditions. The catholic services do not involve the use of herbal medicine during the ceremony. The Catholic doctrine only uses holy water, which is being sprayed during the services.

Another tradition that is worth noting on the dialogue is the belief of the sanitaria on the sick people. For instance, when a person is infected, according to the Santeria, the healer will think, interpret, and then react considering the illness and the physical behavior of the patients. The disease and unfortunate lack in life are believed to be brought by the evil spirits which need to be spelled out. With the catholic doctrines, the healing of the sick is based on the faith and trust in God, even though the illness and lousy lack are believed to be the work and power of Satan. There is no use of herbal medicine or any person with the task of the healer (Ogunade, 2017). On the dialogue, the participants for both parties must be on point on what their religious standards. By so doing the religions and the participant will embrace each other with ease, and there will be no antagonism.

Many people have contradicted the religious way of healing according to sanitaria and filled their reputations with a lot of negativities. The Santeria is even accused by some members of the catholic of witchcraft. This is because the way they deal with the health is unfamiliar and cannot be understood by the medical doctors and the catholic priests. Again the healing of the Santeria by the traditional healers and other Latin American cultures working together has been seen by the Catholics as the work of the devil.

Interreligious dialogue is not a philosophical, theological, or intellectual exercise it is done with the believers and participants of both the sanitaria and the catholic. It is an expression of the participants' lived faith lives. Therefore, interfaith encounters form communities of awareness. Dialogue participants must reveal the beliefs that they hold closest and that define their religious tradition. During the process of the dialogue, it is very crucial to understand the beliefs and practices that are shared by both the catholic and the Santeria. In the world today the Santeria coexists in the traditionally catholic spaces more and with some peace. This is seen on their beliefs and the way they handle the functions inside the church. The Santeria preach Jesus, and his message of salvation and people are advised to accept that message and to respect the freedom of members. This sermon is also typical among the catholic believers as they also channel their prayers through Jesus Christ and the faith to believe in him.

The Key Themes and Concerns of the Stream Of Spirituality and the Insights into the Spiritual Life

The Need and Challenge for Religious Pluralism and Co-Existence between Catholics and Santeria

Interreligious dialogue is a challenging process by which adherents of differing religious beliefs confront to address any form of misunderstandings or divisions (Marcus, 2012). The main aim of interfaith dialogue is typically to enhance peaceful coexistence among different religions. However, Interreligious dialogue comprises of several aspects. For instance, individual from different religions trying to debate and share the elements of their own beliefs and striving to comprehend that which is regarded as foreign.

On the other hand, members of one faith can cooperate with members of another faith to enhance their coexistence. Over decades, the Santeria and Catholicism have engaged in inter-religious dialogue in attempting to embrace each other. Some may argue that their faith or religion is superior to those of others, thus creating unnecessary tension. Therefore, the dialogues have always come with tremendous benefits to the beliefs and their people. Some of which include: the debate assist the two religions in developing and growing to their own enrichments mutually; and again, the dialogue gives room for each religion complement each other.

The catholic and Santeria are religions that have some level of differences and similarities regarding their doctrines, processes, and activities. Despite the looming differences, religions have to work together by tolerating each other's faith for the betterment of the entire community and the world as a whole to address the issues that suppress humanity such as war, hate, homelessness or even marginalization. To be able to achieve the Santeria and catholic have found it essential to engage in productive dialogue by building space for individuals of a different faith to live and work together in peace and harmony.

Religious Pluralism and Tolerance between Santeria and Catholic

Just like any other religion, Santeria is practiced in many countries throughout the world, such as the US. Santeria tends to incorporate West Africa's Yoruba's faith, Caribbean culture, and some elements of catholic. The fact that it combines some doctrines of Catholicism has always raised suspicion with some Catholics arguing that the Santeria religion is misusing some of their elements. This has ever founded the basis of confrontation, which calls for interreligious dialogue between Catholics and Santeria.

Santeria is a relatively complicated system since it combines divine beings with the Catholic saints. Moreover, African slaves realized that honoring their ancestral divine safer if their Catholic masters believed they were worshiping saints. There has been an unrelenting overlap of the two religions, and the believers usually get confused while trying to understand the differences. Just like the Catholicism, Santeria has a priest who has to undergo various tests and cleansing before the initiation.

Religious Commonalities and Differences

There are many similarities between the Santeria religion and Catholic practices some of which include: Elleggua, who is similar to the Roman Catholic Saint Anthony; Yemaya, the spirit of motherhood, which is identical to the Virgin Mary; Babalu Aye who corresponds to the Catholic Saint Lazarus. Chango is an orisha tie to Saint Barbara in Catholicism and Oya associated with Saint Theresa. Despite the similarities, the catholic tend to believe that the Santeria religion is misusing their doctrine and associating it to witchcraft. This have made the two religions frequent be at loggerheads with each other therefore calling for Santeria and Catholicism inter-religious dialogue to ensure peaceful coexistence between the two religions despite their misunderstandings. However, the conversation has to follow some set guidelines to ensure that the conflict between the two religions is solved without violent confrontation and negative notion.

Effectiveness of Religious Dialogue: Santeria and Catholicism Inter-Religious Dialogue

There have always been manners in which the mediators have discouraged either of the faiths to stop applications of encounters as opportunities to defend their own beliefs and doctrines. Additionally, the main objective of inter-religious activities encompasses a wide variety of conversations. It is never an all-amassing idea but rather aimed to be an exchange of concepts, goals, philosophies, and ideas, that looks up to availing us to perspectives outside of our own. The dialogue needs to results in a mutual understanding, and never compete or even take an opportunity to defend one's own faith against the other. Therefore, it is never to proselytize the other religion but to respect one's commitment to one's faith or theological alienation. The dialogue is supposed to bring unity between the Santeria and Catholicism without necessarily taking an official format but rather include healthy human interaction, and relationship.it should be noted that however much, one religion may feel to be superior against the other, it should not take advantage of the dialogue to look down upon the other faith in the process of interfaith dialogue.

It has been proved that during the inter-religion dialogue; there can be some degree of conversion from one faith to the other. However, during the dialogue, the conversion needs tot to be a priority. For instance, in Santeria, it involves general speaking, while Catholicism engages the concept of conversion. With the ideas in mind, the dialogue should be leveled and not make one religion take advantage of favoring its doctrine to convert and individual but rather tolerate and appreciates one's belief with the intention of enhancing peaceful coexistence between the two faiths. What is essential is for the participants to dismiss trials to evangelize that is associated with the attitude of exclusive superiority.

Reflect on the Insights into the Spiritual Life Challenge or Support Community's Spiritual Growth and Identity

I feel that every believer has a spiritual life, regardless of his or her founded faith. Just like any life, believers can decide to grow or wither. And it is our responsibility to change our surrounding that includes the community that we live in. I believe that for any believer to spiritually grow one need to have a connection with the community and our involvement into the community is inevitable, and one can connect by attending the religion events such as going to church.

It is evident that when we grow spiritually, we tend to experience various transformations in our lives. For instance, Christians believe that their spiritual growth tens to draw them closer to God. "Paul tells us in Ephesians 4 that the goal of the transformation process empowered by the Spirit is to achieve "the fullness of Christ" (4:13) by "growing up into all aspects" (4:15) of Christ's complete and perfect humanity," Dr. Lowe remarks. Besides, the individual around us seem to impact our live either negatively or positively; therefore, there is needed to select wisely those who we associate with. However, one does not need to cut links totally but tend to a...