Jesus' Sermon on the Mount as Pedagogy for Crossing Divides and Encountering the OtherScott Geminn (Fordham University)Research Interest Group. [
Paper] Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount offers a pedagogical framework for Christian belief and identity, yet it also provides a pedagogical framework and strategy for encountering and experiencing “the other” in ways that can bridge the polarizing aspects of religion, nationality, culture, gender and race. The insights of the Matthean Jesus concerning retaliation, love for enemies, and projection can be used to religiously educate towards awareness of the humanity of “the other” and also the awareness of the humanity of one’s self. Thus, leading to dialogue, understanding, and humanization.
In Public Spaces: Hosting Religious Conversation Across Diversity in Secular QuebecAlyson Huntly (United Theological College)Jennifer Guyver (McGill University)Research Interest Group. [
Paper] In Quebec, attitudes to public religion range from cautious to overtly hostile. This paper documents work to engage religion in the public sphere, by creating a multidisciplinary site for practice, research, and learning in a Montreal neighbourhood. Researchers formed listening circles to create dialogue across religious, spiritual, and cultural diversity. The results reveal the difficulty of creating public space, the significance of this kind of “third space,” and the ways narrative and artistic practice helped move the discourse from rational conversation about faith to deep encounter.
Keywords: black church, diversity, expression, humanization, intercultural, interfaith, liberation theology, narrative research, null/explicit, other, pentecostal, projection, secular québec, social justice, spirituality, story, wholeness.
