From Indifference to Dwelling in Difference: Catholic-Muslim Marriages and Families and the Non-Hegemonic Reception of Muslim Migrants
The increased rate in the migration of peoples has presented normatively western, Christian societies with more frequent encounters with non-Christian migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers, particularly from societies of Muslims. This essay endeavors to respond indirectly to this new context throu...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
The Journal of Moral Theology, Inc.
2020-06-01
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| Series: | Journal of Moral Theology |
| Online Access: | https://jmt.scholasticahq.com/article/13340-from-indifference-to-dwelling-in-difference-catholic-muslim-marriages-and-families-and-the-non-hegemonic-reception-of-muslim-migrants |
| Summary: | The increased rate in the migration of peoples has presented normatively
western, Christian societies with more frequent encounters with
non-Christian migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers, particularly from
societies of Muslims. This essay endeavors to respond indirectly to this
new context through the lens of marriage and family, and from a Catholic
but interreligious perspective. Drawing on scholarship from interreligious
studies, I turn to the formative import of religious hospitality and
vulnerability. Through these virtues, the spouses in a Catholic-Muslim
marriage may move away from indifference and toward a dwelling in difference.
This mutual indwelling in difference in the here and now, from a Catholic
perspective, images the communal nature of the Trinity and embodies the
eschatological hope for unity with God. These dispositions are necessary
for encountering, negotiating, and learning from religious differences
between individuals and communities. A practical example of these
virtues is given in the form of a Catholic-Muslim marriage rite. These
virtues are then transposed twice. First, they may be transposed into
virtues that promote a thriving interfaith marriage between a Muslim and a
Catholic; this essay proposes that the virtues of vulnerability and
hospitality that create a fruitful space for interreligious learning may
themselves be translated into virtues for other areas of marriage and
family life. Second, the virtues demanded of a Catholic-Muslim marriage
and family may be transposed and expanded into the virtues demanded
of a society humbly willing to welcome the Muslim migrant, but without
erasing their Muslim identity to assimilate and conform to dominant
white, Christian culture. |
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| ISSN: | 2166-2851 2166-2118 |