The Alliance of Civilizations Project

I. A New Series: Essays on the Alliance of Civilizations
General Editors:
Suheil Bushrui and David Cadman

In July 2005, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan announced a new initiative called the “Alliance of Civilizations.” Initially co-sponsored by the prime ministers of Spain and Turkey, the Alliance of Civilizations has a mandate “to bridge divides and overcome prejudice, misconceptions, misperceptions, and polarization which potentially threaten world peace.”

The founders of the Alliance have expressed particular concern about the apparently widening breach between Western and Islamic societies. They have, therefore, emphasized the need for a countervailing movement based on respect for all religions and recognition of humanity’s fundamental interdependence. On a practical level, the Alliance of Civilizations has formed a secretariat and has empanelled a High-Level Group to provide guidance on a series of inter-civilizational and intercultural initiatives. The secretariat of the Alliance of Civilizations has a mandate to establish partnerships with educational and civil society programs that are working to advance the cause of inter-cultural dialogue.

In support of the Alliance of Civilizations, Professor Suheil Bushrui (University of Maryland) and Professor David Cadman (The Temenos Academy) will serve as general editors of a series of papers to be published under the auspices of the Center for Heritage Resource Studies at the University of Maryland.

The editors have inaugurated the series—Essays on the Alliance of Civilizations—with a paper by His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales entitled “Religion: The Ties That Bind,” which has been published with his gracious permission. Subsequent essays will be released approximately every six months.

Forthcoming papers are by His Excellency Karan Singh, President of the Indian Cultural Council, and His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet.

II. Seminars and Conferences on the Alliance of Civilizations

Today, and increasingly so in the future, forming a more perfect union depends in large measure on our ability to cultivate mutual respect and understanding among America’s diverse religious communities as well as the global community as a whole.

Once the commitment to engage in interfaith dialogue emerges, on what basis can it be conducted? Good will, while essential, is not sufficient. Interfaith dialogue, like all forms of inter-group communication, must be based on a durable concept that frames procedures, language, and action. Interfaith dialogue can only be viable if it is based on an awareness that we all are connected through a “shared spiritual heritage.” But a shared spiritual heritage in relation to the commonalities of Jewish and Christian belief, successful interfaith dialogue in this age of globalization necessitates an approach that upholds the collective spiritual inheritance of all humanity. This great inheritance includes not only the three Abrahamic religions, but also many other faiths and traditions including the Hindu, the Buddhist, the Sikh, the Confucian, the Zoroastrian, the Bahá’í, and many others.

Under a concept that can be called “the shared spiritual heritage,” every faith tradition—both divine and non-divine—is accepted as an equally valid attempt to discover the mystery that lies beyond our material existence. Every spiritual tradition is understood to be part of an unending search for an unknowable, transcendent reality. The essence of this search is the same throughout the world, although its expression in the form of theology and religious practice varies widely.

The shared spiritual heritage approach teaches that, because every religion is an expression of the human longing to glimpse an unknowable essence, it is the right of each person, by virtue of the fact that we are human, to claim every religion as our joint inheritance. Expressed another way, whether or not we belong to a particular religion we have all benefited from the enduring values and teachings of one or more of the world’s faith traditions.

In the twentieth century, the scholarly study of religion established the intellectual basis for a view of the world’s faiths that is inclusive rather than prejudiced. This body of scholarship, although it may not have entirely transcended its Western humanist origins, nevertheless has awakened generations of university students to the richness and diversity of the world's spiritual traditions.

Building on what has been achieved in the field of Comparative Religious Studies and the nascent interfaith movement, proponents of the shared spiritual heritage concept must work to have their point of view represented in teaching curricula at all levels and in all contexts, whether denominational or secular. Even students in parochial schools, for example, should be exposed to the shared spiritual heritage point of view for the simple reason that here in America, for example, there exists a global society within an increasingly globalized world.

Understanding what the religions share in common will not and should not lead believers to question or abandon their particular faith. Instead, activating the principle of a shared spiritual heritage will help make every country into a more cohesive society at home and a better world “citizen” abroad.

Religious leaders of all faiths must pave the way by celebrating the shared spiritual heritage. They can make a start by building a genuine international religious community that parallels the international scientific community. Scientists of different disciplines and cultures regularly communicate with each other and exchange ideas through a variety of means, including periodic international conferences. At its best, scientific dialogue constitutes a kind of international language that brings diverse peoples together to solve both theoretical and real world problems. The worldwide religious community must make similar efforts to regularize and systematize dialogue among its constituent parts.