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Discovering the Other

Discovering the Other will be the great task of the 21stCentury said Mark Gopin an !"erican

#abbi speaking in Cau$ %wit&erland in the su""er of 2''1( ! few weeks later terrorist attacks in

)ew *ork and +ashington changed the world for ever(

,f the phrase doesn-t already resonate let "e unpack it a bit( *ou could argue that each

century has a defining the"e. in the 1/thCentury it was 0"pire colonialis" in the 2' thCentury itwas ,deology( #ight now it looks like being Globali&ation for the 21

stCentury( he co"bined

effect of "odern co""unications an interdependent econo"y and ease of travel "ean that we are

thrown up against others "ore than at any previous ti"e in history( 3nprecedented nu"bers of

peoples are on the "ove trying to escape war or fa"ine or si"ply seeking a better life in the

countries they know so well fro" 4( 5aced with these "ass "igrations even countries which

once welco"ed refugees with open ar"s are closing the doors fearful that they "ight lose

so"ething(

5ear is the great barrier that has to be overco"e before we can accept others and the

process of discovering the other is one of overco"ing our fears or as 6enri )ouwen puts it

"oving fro" the house of fear to the house of love( +e are afraid that the beliefs and values we

hold dear will not be accepted or shared by the others 7 for after all they are not like us( his can

lead to a parado$ because one of those things we "ight be afraid of losing is our tradition of

tolerance8

,n the +est this grew out of the religious wars of the #efor"ation( 3p until that ti"e

societies were pretty ho"ogeneous with everyone sharing the sa"e beliefs( he one e$ception

were the 9ews who suffered fro" suspicion and not infre:uent persecutions and pogro"s( he

#efor"ation led to civil wars dividing even fa"ilies as ;rotestants fought Catholics( ,n the end

neither side could be victorious though the wars lasted for over a century( his e$perience led the

thinkers of the 0nlighten"ent to conclude that religion should be taken out of the public arena and

should be a purely personal "atter of private choice( his si"ple pre"ise lies at the heart of our

"odern secular society and we take it as an un:uestioned universal truth rather than as the culturalassu"ption that it is( 0ven the churches have been affected with "any "e"bers co"ing to see

the"selves as "e"bers of a club which "eets on %unday "ornings( One lifestyle choice a"ong

"any(

he proble" co"es when we assu"e that this is the only blueprint by which different

people can live alongside each other( +e "ay ritain dislike the phrase inclusive society because they say it

signifies tolerance of lifeAstyles and behaviour which they find abhorrent( his illustrates another

central proble". the fear that if we are going to accept others without condition then they "ight

behave in ways which are threatening to us( 5ear leads to atte"pts to control which inevitably give

the "essage that the others are not acceptable unless they beco"e "ore like us(

, believe that the answer to this fear is twoAfold. On the one hand we need dialogue 7

to really listen to others to understand their values and beliefs and to ensure that our values and

beliefs are also listened to and respected( On the other hand we need a basic trust in hu"angoodness( he two things go hand in hand. without that basic trust there will not be the willingness

to engage in dialogue and yet dialogue can be a way of discovering the goodness of others(

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5ortunately there has already been "uch dialogue between the religions( he

parlia"ent of +orld #eligions in 1//B even produced a Declaration of a global ethic which

shows the re"arkable e$tent to which different faiths agree on how people should live their lives(

his gives great hope that when , really start to listen to others , will find a core of decency and

integrity which , can respect 7 even though there will be "uch that , do not understand(

5urther"ore as , seek to understand the other through discussion through listening and being

listened to , co"e to a deeper understanding of "y own beliefs( hrough discovering others , alsodiscover "yself(

By Mike Lowe, Founder, Discover the Other.

mike.lowe@discovertheother.com