As the international community continues to divide along the...

As the international community continues to divide along the lines of faith and religion, nations are faced with the moral imperative of engaging with peoples across the boundaries of culture and belief. Because religion is at the core of so much political violence, many religious leaders have begun to successfully engage in the kind of reconciliation dialogue that has eluded diplomats and political leaders for decades.

Many of these religious leaders recognize the troubled history that exists between Jews, Christians, and Muslims and, in a post-9/11 world, have a special dedication to promoting reconciliation between and among followers of the Abrahamic faiths.

Human Agency Many would argue that there is no more salient need in the global community than to facilitate interfaith dialogue conducted within the framework of international peacekeeping and, in recent years, we have seen this kind of outreach become a priority of the world's major religions.

It is important to note that interfaith dialogue is implemented through a belief in the concept of human agency which states that human beings have the freedom and capacity make choices, can impose those choices on the world, and ultimately bring about change (in this case, peace and reconciliation between faiths and nations).

However, if viewed through the prism of the eschatological texts of Twelver Shi'ism and Christianity, one may question whether interfaith dialogue serves a valid and useful purpose. If, as both traditions state, the return of the Redeemer signals a period of bloodshed and conversion to "the one true faith" before peace occurs, does human agency expressed through interfaith dialogue play a legitimate role in peacemaking?

Human beings have struggled for centuries to understand their relationship to and with the Creator and creation. The freedom to act, the notion of free will, and the power to affect change are concepts found in many of the world's great religions. But where is the line drawn between God's activity and human activity in the world? What is the responsibility of God and what is the responsibility of human beings, and where and how do these intersect, overlap, or differentiate?

Are there really activities belonging only to and preordained by God? If so, where and how do we draw this line and make this distinction between what is up to God and what is properly within the purview of man's power to affect or change?