Diana Eck

We Multiculturalism through globalization has challenged our hunting lodge to adapt with the times by thinking of world godlinesss as much of a br another(prenominal)hood of religion rather than a threat. In the last chapter of the book Encountering God, the author Diana Eek puts an emphasis on the interdependent world we live in and how we, as compassionate beings exit need to approach todays problems as a whole if we wish well to overcome lifes various hurdles.Evidence of the interdependent world we live can be seen by observing the statistics of the relatedness of population growth and the growth of poverty and illiteracy to the growth of carbon dioxide emissions and the pollution of the seas, striping of forests, extinction of plant and physical species (Eek, Peg. 200, 2003). Eek states that in this interdependent world, there will al courses be a consequence for every action made and the world as a whole will inevitably have to deal with the repercussions whiz way or another.Interdependency does not Just stop with nations and the environment or providence it also describes people, religious traditions and cultures. (Eek, Peg. 202, 2003). Since everything is vernacularly dependent n each other weather it being religion, the economy or the environment, order of magnitude needs to consciously act on each physical or mental plight with everyones best interest in mind. The first step into transforming the world religions into a brotherhood of faith, is taking c ar of the major issue that all religions suit today which is the perceived we language of each religion that seems to divide our society rather than unite them.Eek describes that the we language thats evident in every religion as a sociological matter as well as a theological issue that seems to reflect our deepest religious values. Eek, Peg. 203, 2003). She challenges the reader to engage themselves if there use of the word we links people or divides people. check to Eek, in every tra dition there seems to be at to the lowest degree some attempts (some more than others) to steer toward a much wider reasonableness of we.For example, Hindus commit that the whole world is a single family-Visualize Katmandu, Buddhists speak of the sang and the quaternion directions, Christians with the language of Kiosks (derived from the word autoimmune, translates to the household of the whole inhabited Earth), and the Muslims attempt to materialise different ways to interpret the Mama (Eek, Peg. 203, 2003). Even though this behavior of open minded thinking were talking about clearly exists in each religion, its clear were not where wed like to be considering the frequent public exposure of violence involving religious disputes on places like the internet and T.V. People are taking religious sides and are missing the big picture and which will only result in more bad press and casualties. In my eyes this can be attributed to ignorance formed by lack of interrelations interc ourse. In order for religious dialogue to be effective, Eek leads me to believe that one must first recreate he we. Eek often referenced one of the close open minded and enlightening religious figures in history to aim the importance of recreating the we and its impact on transforming society. According to Eek, Gandhi redefined the inclusive we in theory but more importantly in practice.Gandhi started at the household take aim to extend the care, ethics and common sense of the household to the whole of human being (Eek, Peg. 206, 2003). Eek states that he believed that the personal was the political, meaning he saw no point in speaking of things like oppression of the or if one continued to support the status quo through ones daily decisions in life. kind of of speaking of the tender injustices that were going on around him (political), he personally made an impact by volunteering to clean the latrines, help out at the hospital, and empty bedpans (Eek, Peg. 07, 2003). Sandh ogs lifestyle was greatly impacted by all the social injustice going on in the world. Sandhogs we not only include the poor and the oppressed but his enemies as well. He felt up that a transformed community would never be reached if conflict is cast in terms of winning ND losing (Eek, Peg. 206, 2003). This kind of humility and consciousness should be implemented in the approach to interrelations dialogue in order to sustain all religions as a brotherhood of faith.But until we recreate the we in society, interrelations dialogue will never reach its potential of mutual transformation. Diana Eek provides the reader with a refreshing option for encountering plurality of religions by remaining Christian, yet place a deep respect for all religions. As Gandhi was inspired by some aspects of religion, Diana Eek was inspired by Sandhogs attempt to recreate the we. She too felt that in order for society to solve todays toughest problems, we must approach these problems as a whole. Eek expl ains how our daily decisions can cause a ripple effect.She conveys to the reader that we, as human beings, can make a change for the bettor by recreating the we in our language to link rather than divide. After successfully recreating the we, one can break the ignorance and fear and gain a mutual understanding of different religions through mutual understanding. As Eek states, with mutual understanding comes mutual transformation. Mutual transformation will only lead society to adapt with the times y thinking of world religions as more of a brotherhood of faith rather than a threat.