Ecumenism is a hot topic right now, particularly dialogue with Islam. But whenever I consider dialogue and ecumenism with Islam I always come back to one question.
What is the point?
By this question, I don’t intend sarcastic commentary that any and all dialogue is fruitless. I mean it at face value. To measure the success of any endeavor, you must know what it is we wish to achieve by it.
So what do we hope to achieve with better dialogue with Islam?
First, may I suggest that it is not possible to have fruitful dialogue with Islam itself, but perhaps it is with some Muslims. This may seem like word games, but I think it is an important distinction. I will try to clarify.
Islam, as religion and as a movement does not dialogue, it conquers. If…
