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美國衝突解決、和平對話專家──穆罕默德·阿布尼莫爾(Mohammed Abu-Nimer)為「宗教中心主義」一詞下一個定義:「一個完全否認其他宗教真理, 自認為擁有絕對的真理,不給任何其他的宗教習俗留任何的餘地的信徒。」他說:「這種人,因有負面的理念跟思想,加上經常跟別人有牴觸衝突的經驗,他特別會傾向於不人道、好排斥、容易歧視其他宗教團體或個人、且具破壞性。」其實我們不需要專家來告訴我們,就可想而知,只要一有「宗教中心主義」在舞台上扮演主角, 想要促進和平、提倡愛心、達成良好的溝通,幾乎都是不可能的。
基督徒常認為只要跟隨「大使命」的呼召(馬太福音28:19-20),帶領普天下的萬民來作耶穌的門徒,在全世界各地擴展上帝的教會(參部落格:殖民主義)就是在拯救那些將要沉淪地獄的靈魂(參部落格:佈道策略)。即使出發點來自於愛,殊不知,如果他們堅持要使用這種西化的「文化移植」手段,應用他們的「宗教中心主義」,他們必然會面臨許多威脅和抵抗(參部落格:排外)。適得其反,自己阻礙了自己,把原來想展現的「好消息」周圍建了一面巨大的堵牆 。
Religiocentrism
Mohammed Abu-Nimer, the American expert on conflict resolution and peace dialogue, defines the term “religiocentrism” as "conviction that a person's own religion is more important or superior to other religions.” In other words, a believer who entirely denies the truths of other religions, believes they possess the absolute truth, and leaves no room for any other religious customs. He expressed that such person, due to his/her negative beliefs and thoughts, combined with frequent confrontational experiences with others, tends to be more inhumane, exclusionary, and easily discriminates against other religious groups or individuals, hence, more destructive. In fact, we don't need an expert to tell us the above statement. It is apparent that whenever "religiocentrism" plays a leading role, it is almost impossible to promote peace, advocate love, and achieve good communication.
Christians often believe that by following the "Great Commission" (Matthew 28:19-20) and leading people worldwide (Please refer to my blog post: Colonialism ) to become disciples of Jesus, they are expanding God's church everywhere (Please refer to my blog post: Evangelical Strategies), saving souls that would otherwise be doomed to hell. Even if their intentions are rooted in love, they may not realize that by insisting on a Westernized "cultural transplantation" and employing their "religiocentrism," they will inevitably encounter significant resistance and challenges (Please refer y to my blog post: Exclusiveness).. Ironically, they end up hinder themselves, turning the "good news" they want to showcase into a massive wall around themselves.
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