Leaving the Comfort Zone to Build Bridges

Yahoo News reports that Pope Francis has called "for more dialogue with Islam, and offered an olive branch to China and other countries that don't have diplomatic relations with the Holy See."

Visit: http://news.yahoo.com/pope-dialogue-islam-olive-branch-china-102330472.html

This was the Pope's first foreign policy address, made to ambassadors from 180 countries who do have diplomacy with the Vatican. Explaining that the word "pontiff" means "bridge-builder," Pope Francis emphasized that he wanted to work for the poor while being a bridge-builder among peoples.

Once again, stepping out of the traditional "comfort zone," the new Pope says that he even wants to dialogue with Islam and "deepen the church's outreach to atheists." What a contrast with former Pope Benedict characterizing Islamic teachings as "evil and inhuman."

I'd say Pope Francis has his work cut out for him. It's not easy to establish diplomacy with other countries, especially those who do not share the same beliefs or people who profess not to have any belief in G-d at all.

Standing at this crossroads between traditional religion and New Age beliefs, I find myself defending believers and atheists alike. Both throw verbal brickbats at one another that are sometimes quite harsh. The believers get all righteous, sure they are walking right next to G-d and that they know G-d's will. The atheists express disgust at the often-backward views of the devout and say that only atheism is rational, that believers are irresponsible and uncaring.

None of this is true. People are much more complex than that. We all come out in spots rather than being uniformly consistent, rational, and spiritual. There are sweet, ethical atheists and mean preachers. There are atheists who profess their atheism with a righteousness to rival any preacher anywhere. And there are devoutly religious folk who, like Pope Francis, attempt to understand and value beliefs that are different.

Where do I stand amid all this swirling chaos of beliefs and non-beliefs?

Electic. That word just keeps on coming up. I believe in G-d, but yet I am not a member of any church. I want to know about what people believe in. I want to know how they practice their beliefs. And I want to respect the non-believers among us as well. 

It is not an easy task to step outside of one's comfortable set of beliefs to embrace other people and dialogue with them. I've tried it often, and sometimes failed and sometimes succeeded. I was never, ever comfortable doing it. I always felt like it had to be either I was a nutcase or the other person was a nutcase. Seeking the echo of my own ego, I would proclaim how "backward," "absurd," "unfair" and "wrong" other people's beliefs were compared to my supposedly "enlightened" views.

But, as I get older, and (I hope) wiser, I am learning to be more gentle in my appraisals. I am learning that behind the statements are human beings with feelings that can be hurt by harsh judgments just as I can be hurt by them. I am learning, ever so slowly, that most people are doing their best with what they know and feel. By having a real dialogue with such people—as opposed to talking at them—I may be doing some "enlightening," but I am also being enlightened by them as well. 

Perhaps this is something Pope Francis knows about. He seems to seek knowledge and not think that he is infallible (so-called "papal infallibility" notwithstanding). In opening up such dialogues, he also gives us outsiders a look at some of the things that we can share with the Catholic Church, if not everything. He suggests that we may coexist in peace with one another. Already, he is reaching out to me, tugging me out of my own comfort zone.

G-d Bless Pope Francis for even trying! As I say, it's a hard task. It's uncomfortable, but he is a religious who refuses comfort.