Muslim leaders must reach out to common Christians, Jews to make interfaith dialogue effective
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 14, 2010 A funny thing happened after the Saudi Arabia-sponsored 2008 World Conference on Dialogue in Spain : People began paying attention. For those readers who may have forgotten, King Abdullah initiated the interfaith dialogue conference with the hope of bridging the gap that exists primarily among Muslims, Christians and Jews. Not unexpectedly, the conference was greeted with a lukewarm response, if not more than a little hostility by the Western media. Saudi Arabia , according to the argument at the time, was presumptuous to sponsor a conference on religious harmony since no churches are permitted in the Kingdom. Media coverage was casual and the event was soon forgotten. Or maybe not. According to the Washington Times, an arch-conservative newspaper and ordinarily a harsh critic of Saudi Arabia , some Jewish leaders have recognized that such conferences can narrow the gap that separate Jews and Muslims. Rabbi Marc Schneier, who heads the Foundation Fo...