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These are some of the questions asked in a publication launched this week.
Stranger, Enemy, Neighbor, Friend: A Rough Guide On Religion and Othering is a practical resource for group study that aims to inspire and equip groups to address core tensions that emerge in religious representations of “otherness.”
The World Council of Churches (WCC) supported this publication “by and for young scholars, activists, and development workers engaged in peacebuilding and the cultivation of social resilience.”
Explaining why the WCC assisted with this publication, Lyn van Rooyen, coordinator editor of WCC Publications, said, “Interreligious dialogue, and equipping faith communities for this work, is part of the ongoing work of the WCC. We are also mindful of including young people in all the work of the WCC and the ecumenical movement. When we were asked to assist in making this resource available, we were glad to support work that will focus on both these areas.”
The guide presents resources on how religious ideas, symbols, and practices represent other persons and groups as enemies, strangers, neighbours, and friends. It includes anecdotes, short essays on each topic, and group reading exercises that draw on the sacred writings of many of the world’s religious traditions. It also includes a gallery of projects developed by young leaders to engage with the challenges of othering by drawing on their religious traditions’ beliefs, symbols, and practices as resources.
The resource can be downloaded from the WCC website.
Stranger, Enemy, Neighbor, Friend: A Rough Guide On Religion and Othering
