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HEINER BIELEFELDT, UNITED NATIONS SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON FREEDOM OF RELIGION OR BELIEF
The potential of interreligious communication for building, restoring and solidifying trust between people
across denominational lines usually remains underestimated. Such communication should not be reduced to
lofty efforts of theological experts to resolve centuries-old disputes, whose subtleties ordinary people fail to
comprehend. Projects of malaria prevention jointly run by Christian and Muslim leaders in Nigeria have a down-
to-earth significance, which everyone immediately understands – while at the same time sending a much-needed
message of hope in a country haunted by religious extremism. Recent talks between religious communities in
Cyprus have helped the Cypriot population to better come to terms with the bitter legacy of civil war, invasion
and expulsion. And the publicly declared commitment of the Lutheran World Federation and Islamic Relief to
cooperate on issues of refugee support, apart from all practical advantages of joining hands, holds the promise
that sectarian divides can be contained – and will finally be overcome.
We are living in times of confusion, in which common sense seems to be increasingly eroding. Interreligious
communication, in conjunction with other forms of cross-boundaries communication, is the most efficient
way of restoring common sense. By engaging in communication people will naturally discover – or rediscover
– the trivial truth that those ‘on the other side’, far from being ‘aliens’ with a totally different mentality, are
human beings with needs, problems, interests and yearnings similar to their own. Although disagreements and
conflicts will not simply disappear, regular encounters between human beings are the best antidote to conspiracy
projections, in which an abstract ‘other’ can easily become the target of unchecked and thus escalating fears.
What is needed against paranoid imagination is realism, which can only develop in real encounters between real
human beings across boundaries.
Under freedom of religion or belief, states have a responsibility to create an enabling environment for
interreligious communication, based on respect for everyone’s self-understanding in issues of faith. Dialogue
projects should reflect the existing diversity, not only between but also within various communities, including
gender diversity. Broad participation in dialogue facilitates broad ownership, which is needed for interreligious
communication to unfold its potential.
Heiner Bielefeldt
United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief