By Joelle Anderson
On August 1, Muslims began their annual celebration of Ramadan. Ramadan marks a month-long period of fasting and spiritual focus for Muslims around the world. Some Muslim groups in the United States will hold interfaith meals during Ramadan to teach others about their faith and practices. These and other interfaith activities go a long way toward fostering understanding between religious groups. What types of worshipers take part in interfaith activities?
More mainline Protestants are involved in interfaith activities. One-third of all worshipers (34%) were involved in at least one interfaith activity in the past year. More mainline Protestant worshipers participated in interfaith worship or prayer services, celebrations or programs, or service projects, compared to conservative Protestant and Catholic worshipers. In fact, nearly half of mainline Protestants took part in some form of interfaith activity (48%), while only around one-quarter of Catholics and conservative Protestants did.
Beliefs support interfaith activities. Over half of mainline Protestant worshipers (52%) believe that “all different religions are equally good ways of helping a person find ultimate truth.” Thus many mainline Protestants seek to bridge religious divides through interfaith activities. In contrast, only 22% of conservative Protestant worshipers agree that all religions are equally good ways of finding truth. Many conservative Protestant worshipers subscribe to the complete truth of their own belief system, and thus might fear that interfaith activities will threaten their beliefs.
Interestingly, 60% of Catholic worshipers believe that all religions are equally good ways of finding truth, yet Catholics show low levels of participation in interfaith activities. Their relative lack of involvement in interfaith activities could have less to do with religious beliefs, and instead reflect the low level of Catholic involvement in religious activities in general.
During this season of Ramadan (and beyond), many will seek to interact with people of different faiths. In various locations, community interfaith organizations actively promote religious understanding and fellowship. Meeting people from different faith backgrounds will help worshipers understand the religious beliefs and practices of others and may challenge them to examine and solidify their own personal beliefs. The opportunity to know and love your neighbors as yourself is right outside your door.
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