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Scotland
Inter faith marriage, parenting and raising of families in inter faith communities can cause a clash in our society when East meets West. As much of religious practice is largely a cultural expression, sometimes there can be the uncomfortable experience of two cultures colliding. It does not have to be like this.
Let us start in India before we make our way to Scotland. Not just India in general, but the most 'Indian part of India', the southern state of Tamil Nadu. This is the home of Dravidian art and culture, the true home of Indian vegetarianism, where the Aryans never brought their meat-eating influence. It was in this land of amazingly ornate temples with their soaring 'gopurams' (towers) that I met a very British gentleman. He lived in an ashram outside Madurai and on first meeting you would say he was a sanyasi. The saffron coloured robes, the long grey hair, the beard and the mark on his forehead. However, close your eyes and listen to him speak and you are transported to the middle of Oxford. The man I am describing is the late Bede Griffiths, Roman Catholic Benedictine Monk who took Indian inculturation seriously. Here, I thought to myself, is the very embodiment of East meeting West - a good experience.
I started with this story, to focus on an individual who was a devout practising Christian yet was able to embrace and absorb himself in another tradition, in this case Hinduism. It is certainly the case that often a 'mixed marriage' can cause many problems for the two respective families: from a Christian perspective, a fear of 'selling out to Jesus' as they watch their Christian son or daughter, marry a person of another faith. From a theological perspective, in Scotland we have been engaging in an interesting exercise discussing mission from the perspective of the third person of the Trinity. These reflections have been led by CAIRS (Churches Agency for Inter Faith Relations in Scotland) and we have found ourselves in slightly unfamiliar territory. So often our focus is on Christology, yet interestingly when we move away from our debates about the uniqueness of Christ, to discussing the Spirit, remarkably we discover things which unite rather than divide us. A journey to a Hindu Temple to have dialogue about Spirit and a Hindu will quickly return with the word 'Atman' from the root word 'an' which means 'to breathe' or 'to enliven'. So this speaks about movement, the wind or the moving Spirit. Immediately, both Christian and Hindu are on familiar terrain.
A few words about the Scottish inter faith scene. Out of approx. five million people in Scotland, 3,294,545 said they were Christian (2001 Census). Percentage wise there is arguably a stronger Christian feel to Scotland than England. The Muslim population is by far and away the largest minority faith, 42,537 Muslims in Scotland compared to 1,524,887 Muslims in England. Areas where Muslims are in the majority in Scotland are few and the only area of any significance is Pollokshields on the south side of Glasgow. In the main, Scotland is still a white and Presbyterian land.
I started with Bede and I would like to end with him. At Shantivanam Ashram at sunrise and sunset, the community is encouraged to make their way to a dry river bed in the grounds to meditate. Not only is this a powerful experience in itself, but it is a great equaliser, as we start with our common humanity encountering the mystery of God. Meditation permits us to do that and in this case a spectacular setting at two poignant times of day. After this shared experience of the Divine, it may then be rather easier to engage in inter faith encounter.
Scotland is an extremely beautiful country, with its new Parliament recently completed in Edinburgh, with the Scottish Executive committed to creating a more inclusive society. We would see ourselves as an ancient nation with a proud history of hospitality. With a spirit of graciousness which Scots pride themselves in, we are engaging in a positive way to create genuinely multi faith communities.
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