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1 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Environment Oregon hosts solar energy discussion ... Beer event supports animal rescue ... Controlled burn planned Tuesday ... Environment Oregon hosts solar energy discussion ... Beer event supports animal rescue ... Controlled burn planned Tuesday ... MOCHAS, MIDRASH AND MYSTERIES Mochas, midrash and mysteries: Should religions change, and how much? Comment DailyTidings.com Writer Posted Nov. 4, 2015 at 12:01 AM Posted Nov. 4, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Social News My friend Daniel Murphy and I have been reading Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio (now Pope Francis) and Rabbi Abraham Skorka’s excellent book, "On Heaven and Earth," over these past months. It’s written in dialogue format, and so one gets to witness and engage this unique conversation between two great thinkers, and the religious traditions they represent. But to what degree can any of us really speak for whatever religious community we are part of? In a sense, that is one of their questions in this next chapter — where after talking about G-d, the devil and atheism, the duo turn their attention to the phenomenon of religions themselves. Cardinal Bergoglio says that G-d translates G-d's self into the language, metaphors and capacities of any given culture. All people seek G-d, and G-d appears to all people. The differences between religions are more cultural and systematic than anything else. “G-d makes Himself felt in the heart of each person.” Unfortunately, we live in an age of renewed fundamentalism and extremism. It is refreshing to see both Rabbi Skorka and Cardinal Bergoglio reject the idea that only one path can bring someone authentically to G-d. Rabbi Skorka writes, “How can it be that there are people who speak poorly of others that practice a different religion if those others are sincere and are trying to help people get closer to G-d?” I think of the story in Genesis of the Tower of Babel — where the peoples of the earth are scattered to the corners of the globe in response to their all gathering in one place, speaking one language, and trying to build a tower that reached to the heavens. We could read this scattering as a punishment, but we could also read it as a proof-text that God desires diversity. The goal is not one religion or one language, but many. A fascinating question that both men consider is how religions should or shouldn't continue to develop or evolve over time. Cardinal Bergoglio says that we can deepen our religious faith, but it must remain in relationship to our original inheritance. On one hand, religions cannot keep up with the speed of social change; but on the other hand, "there is the risk of confusing other economic, cultural, and geographic interests" when we make changes to traditions that have endured for centuries. We imagine each generation has progressed and is more sophisticated, and so can judge its predecessors as it likes. But that is not always the case. More information is not the same thing as wisdom. And it is never an easy question to consider how and to what extent religious traditions should adjust and change. Rabbi Skorka says that religions are dynamic and must be in constant relationship with the larger world — both to change it and be changed by it. What doesn't change are the timeless values at the heart of a religion; but how those values are understood and applied are subject to an ongoing rethinking and questioning. There is a constant evolution, and dynamism, or at least there should be. We need to learn how to do it, however, with great humility. There is a phrase in Hebrew: livnot v’libanot — to build and be built. When we are deeply and authentically engaged with religion, we are both built by it, and we build it. The process is both generative and respectful. Cardinal Bergoglio says, “To kill in the name of G-d is blasphemy.” All humans and religious traditions tend to fall into the trap of using G-d as a projection of our inflated egos, and so justify killing and mistreating in the name of what is really politics and power. How can we learn to see G-d’s face on the face of the other person, whatever their religious tradition is? Cardinal Bergoglio and Rabbi Skorka’s dialogue offers hope that we can continue to develop a strong counter-voice, across religions, to the one of violence and extremism that feels so prevalent today. May it be so. Rabbi Joshua Boettiger is the spiritual leader of Temple Emek Shalom in Ashland. DailyTidings.com Writer Posted Nov. 4, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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