“One should not come to dialogue assuming the worst of the partner’s community. The very fact that someone chooses to dialogue with another shows that they have some commitment to learning and are therefore not bad people. One should not expect, for example, that a Muslim dialogue partner should share blame for evils that some other Muslims may have committed. After the terrorist attacks of 9/11, I was asked repeatedly why Muslims hated America, a question that ignored the reality of the millions of Muslims in the United States who, like me, came to America precisely because they loved it.
“One should be aware of both the ideals and the realities of the Muslim world. A line from Professor [Wilfrid Cantwell] Smith that I add to the syllabus of my world religions course says it well: ‘Normally persons talk about other people’s religions as they are, and about their own as it ought to be.’”
