How do we attract and create interfaith dialogues that draw upon and create greater inclusion and participation of marginalized and more conservative voices? Dialogue is not an ideological word, but a universal one, of value and relevance among believers and nonbelievers of all types. And yet, most interfaith dialogues tend to be guided and peopled by those representing or professing a more liberal understanding of their faith or ideological group. Other identity features like education level, socioeconomic class, ethnicity, and gender are also likely to lack sufficient representation beyond an outlier or element of tokenism. This myopic and thin representation of a complex group not only fails to include the majority of that religious group's views and positions but creates an unrealistic and often sugarcoated sense of tepid religious belonging and accommodation that to others can seem a betrayal of core beliefs, practices, and identity.
At the same time, some conservative views can seem morally repugnant or outdated to more liberal believers, and the advocacy of evangelization or converting another can undermine already fraught power dynamics with religious minorities and muddy an otherwise safe and protected space.
In this paper, I will highlight the need for greater intrafaith dialogue as a necessary (even if fraught and sometimes painful) element to foster and sharpen interfaith dialogue. I will also highlight key virtues (humility, hospitality, vulnerability, courage, and compassion) needed to stimulate and expand an interfaith dialogue of a mostly liberal minority to one where (seemingly) discordant, challenging, and less accommodating voices are also welcomed. I have no illusions on the uphill climb needed here.