Kerubo Mokaya - Playing Nice

It’s hard to believe that a whole semester has gone by. I vividly recall the first day; how afraid I was that three hours of class on a Tuesday afternoon would probably be more than I could take. The introductory spectrum exercise in the basement is also still vivid in my mind: and so is the awkwardness, confusion and vulnerability that followed having to answer personal questions in the presence of strangers and acquaintances. Before I knew it, however, I was looking forward to class every Tuesday and engaged in the conversations.


Albeit the sharing and excitement, I always wondered how this knowledge could flow over into our immediate communities, for example Penn. We did a fair amount of intellectual debate that sometimes raised even more questions than we could answer. There were days I wondered whether we were turning interfaith dialogue into any other rhetorical analysis by avoiding personal experiences in faith. I learnt about the US political system and the disinclination towards merging state and religion. Moreover, I learned of the first amendment in detail. It was enlightening to discover that this is a bone of contention in the US.

In my Republic, although religion plays a big role in political decisions, the people are not overly polarized to view this as partisan. This difference caught my attention.  My country recently went into a referendum and passed the new Kenyan constitution.  Among the key contentious issues were state separation from religion, devolution and international laws. The debates raised by opponents of the new constitution stimulated my curiosity of the extent that religion factors into public affairs, especially in pluralistic societies.

Through this class, I have deduced that there is a significant difference between ignoring religion, tolerating religion and actually engaging in interfaith dialogue. Society is ostensibly becoming more ignorant of how religion affects who people are and how they live. Furthermore, sharing faith experiences is becoming increasingly difficult. Last Sunday, I listened to my pastor give his hebdomadal sermon. He spoke of how tolerance can only exist if it is reciprocated. I was engaged, but I found myself asking: can it exist in other ways? He emphasized that in modern society, religion has been forced to “play nice.” I knew from listening to him that I wanted to delve deeper into this issue. It is hard enough that interfaith dialogue barely exists because people are afraid of stepping on each other’s toes. It is hard enough that there are stereotypes of what different religions mean or at least the stereotypes that come with practicing certain faiths. If society will not even tolerate coexistence, how are individual religions supposed to propagate their beliefs?

In one of the videos we watched in class, an atheist comedian, Penn Jilette, recalls his encounter with a Christian who shared the gospel with him. Even though he did not convert, Jilette was touched because the man had acted in love by sharing his faith. If so, why is proselytism so controversial? Why do we shun conversion? With such sensitivity in society, it is difficult to propagate interfaith dialogue.

One of my friends posted on Facebook the other day: “If Christianity is not real, what’s next?” It
made me think of Jesus’ words, “I am the way, and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” It would be mendacious of me to say that I haven’t challenged this notion before. As a Christian, I believe that Jesus is the only way to heaven, but I find it extremely difficult to accept that anyone who does not believe in Jesus will not go to heaven.  Those who believe in God believe that His reasoning is different from our own; He does what He sees best. People chose to be moral whether or not they are part of an institutionalized religion.

The more I think about this subject, the more I realize that true interfaith dialogue and action is supposed to go beyond exchanging pleasantries. This cartoon by Baloo shared in class is hung up in my room, because it reminds me that there is a difference between tolerance and respecting the freedom of belief. What bothers me is that even religious leaders have succumbed to tolerance and “just getting along”



For me, interfaith dialogue will be ideal when we can understand and discuss each others' differences and still coexist. I am elated that I will be part of the Interfaith Youth Core this summer. The program seeks to foster interfaith dialogue in universities. I am glad that my journey in exploring interfaith has started in my fresh man year in college and that I have three more years to grow. I hope to be part of the change makers that will see Penn blossom into an institution where religion is respected and discussed.