The mission of The Center for Christian–Jewish Dialogue is to affirm what Christians and Jews hold in common, engage in conversation, promote understanding, and encourage mutual respect for each other’s faith, culture and history. We are deeply committed to interfaith dialogue.
Because of this commitment, we are dismayed at the dramatic increase in anger, hatred and violence in our culture. We are deeply saddened by the polarization that contributes to danger and insecurity in our world. Anti-Semitism has grown rapidly, as have distorted expressions of hatred for classical Christianity.
We encourage a return to the biblical vision of shalom¾God’s gift of peace, harmony and wholeness, and the abandonment of fear and irrational hatred. As Christians and Jews, we are dedicated to positive relationships between persons of our own and different religious traditions. We are dedicated to reconciliation and historical accuracy.
Albert Einstein once said that while “a human being is part of the whole¾a part of the universe limited in time and space, he experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness.” Delusion imprisons us. We become restricted to our personal desires and to affection for the few people closest to us who always agree with us.
We call on all persons in our community and beyond to refuse to relate to one another through the broken lenses of violence, trauma and anti-Semitism. We invite and support a posture of peace and understanding, an attitude of openness, a strengthening of cultural resilience, and a rejection of destruction, whether physical or religious.
The Boards of Directors and Advisors
The Center for Christian–Jewish Dialogue
Colorado Springs, Colorado
