Psychology of Religion and Intercultural Dialogue and Tolerance

Irrespective of all negative predictions of social scientists concerning its very survival, religion continues to be a vigorous social force strongly influencing culture of modern man. Taken its motivational and cultural power, specific social location and organizational configuration, religion becomes rather indispensable for any kind of intercultural dialogue campaign. Insights of psychology of religion in that context becomes increasingly important given the increasing prominence of nested paradigm in inter group dialogue and conflict resolution whereby local actors embedded at the gross-level of cross-cultural encounter are directly involved and responsible for creating atmosphere of dialogue and peaceful coexistence. Psychologically speaking, threats to intrinsic peace and tolerance building capacities of religion come from psychologically unbearable and abnormal environmental conditions, religious orientations such as extrinsic religiosity and partly religious fundamentalism, authoritarian personality trait, overstressed ethnic identity and uncontrolled inter-group processes. On the other hand, the most significant contribution of religion to intercultural dialogue lays in benign religious orientations of intrinsic religiosity and religious orthodoxy, and in ability of religion to offer subordinate transcultural goals and more inclusive categories of selfidentification that could pacify otherwise competitive intercultural relations.