Impossible Balancing Act? Teaching Interfaith Dialogue through Humility, Compassion, and Justice

In this paper, I am concerned with three key questions:1. Why are the values of humility, compassion, and justice so essential and destabilizing in interfaith dialogues, especially in times of peace?2. Why should teaching interfaith dialogue always provide space for the grievances on all sides from past, present (and possibly) future unrest and conflict?3. How do interfaith dialogue participants in post-conflict settings balance the desire and need for justice with compassion and humility for one’s self, one’s community, and the community in conflict?To begin to answer these questions, I will first reflect upon the role, limits, and relationships between these three virtues before turning to the aims and goals of teaching these virtues in the context of interfaith dialogue. At issue is whether the failure to embody compassion and humility through interfaith dialogue in times of relative peace and prosperity signal the impossibility or meaninglessness of such dialogue when passions are rife, stakes are high, and vulnerability, rage, and hopelessness abound.