DIALOG ANTAR UMAT BERAGAMA Ketegangan antara keterbukaan dan identitas1

Abstract

Today interreligious dialogue seems to have reached an impasse because of the opposite opinions represented by pluralism and postliberal particularism. Pluralists argue that religious identity implies openness to religious otherness. Postliberal particularists, by contrast, draw attention to the value of identity and underline not only the importance of commitment but also the particularity of the irreducible difference between religious languages. From this perspective, postliberal particularism claims that religions are untranslatable. In the face of adversity in the dialogue between religions, created by that claim, Marianne Moyaert from the Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium) gave the impasse a new turn. She is inspired by Paul Ricoeur’s latest publication On Translation (2006), which he dedicated to the enigma of linguistic diversity and the question of wether languages can be translated. Ricoeur states that the attitude appropriate to a translator is one of linguistic hospitality. He also suggests that this hospitality can serve as a model for inter-religious dialogue. Reflecting on this suggestion, Moyaert elaborates Ricoeur’s thought, hoping it will illuminate the current discussion between pluralists and postliberal particularists. Consistent with Ricoeur’s posititon, she argues that religious languages can be translated and that inter-religious dialogue is possible, when built on an ethical posture of hermeneutical hospitality towards the religious other.