The Interreligious dialogue is a transformative tool that allows Lebanese people to understand and empathize with one another

Reach agreement around a core set of values that celebrate diversity and build cohesion whiles making sure no community is marginalized

1.Interfaith dialogue refers to cooperative, constructive, and positive interaction between people of different religious traditions and/or spiritual or humanistic beliefs at both the individual and institutional level

2.Some have proposed the term “interpath dialogue”, to avoid implicitly excluding atheists, agnostics, humanists, and others with no religious faith but with ethical or philosophical beliefs

3.Interfaith initiatives in Lebanon can be grouped into 4 models (Khoury 2007): “Dialogue of Life”, “Unity Dialogue”, “Ritualistic and ceremonial interfaith dialogue”, “Advocacy approach”

1.Number of court cases related to religious hatred

2.V106 in World Values Survey (WVS): Trust of people from other religions

3.V154 in WVS: The only acceptable religion  is my religion

4.V156 in WVS: morality of people belonging to another religion

1.The civil war (1975 - 90) weighs considerably on the Lebanese and impacts inter-religious dialogue

2.Every sect has its own narrative of the civil war and a common history ends with Lebanon’s gaining independence from France in 1943

3.Political parties and politicians use religion as a way to gain votes

4.Communities live separately, go to different schools, and often do not even enter areas perceived as belonging to another religion

5.Television channels affiliated with certain denominations instill and maintain a fear of a constant threat from other religious communities

1.Lebanese people’s mindsets are often dictated by their religious identities (emotions, needs, fears, hopes, expectations, stereotypes, etc.)

2.The nature of the religious conflicts are existential and are fueled by mistrust, fear of the other, repressed anger, fear of judgment, and fear of exclusion

3.A person’s name provides basic information about where s/he comes from and  what religious identity s/he carries; on this basis, assumptions are often made regarding political affiliations

4.Lebanon has no unified civil status law; religious identity and one’s rights and duties are closely linked to one’s confessional denomination

5.Political sectarianism in Lebanon has existed long before its independence in 1943; since then, and for many years, political power was allocated according to a census dating back to 1932

1.1954: “First Muslim–Christian Convocation,” held in Bhamdoun

2.1975–76: The Lebanese Meeting for Dialogue, initiated by a partnership between the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), organized meetings and workshops for Lebanese youth in Cyprus (Khoury 2007)

3.1977: The Center for Islamo–Christian Studies at St Joseph University was founded to counter the developments of the civil war and to educate religious personnel about the respective “other” religions

4.1979: Hisham Nishabe founded the Institute of Islamic Studies at the Maqāsid Higher Institute and the Documentation Center for Islamo–Christian Relations

5.1989: The signing of the Taef agreement

6.1990: Lebanese Islamic Committee for Dialogue was founded

7.1993: Religious clergies formed the "National Christian-Muslim Committee for Dialogue" to address sectarian issues among the major religious groups

8.1998: President Elias Hrawi proposed legislation allowing civil marriage

9.Since 2002, the Near East School of Theology (NEST) has been organizing inter-religious meetings called “Forum of Muslim–Christian Thought.”

10.2007: founding of Adyan, a foundation for diversity, solidarity and human dignity

11.2010: March 25 declared a "joint Islamic-Christian national holiday" by the Lebanese government

12.2013: launching of the “Religions and Cultures Forum for Development and Dialogue” by Fadlallah’s son Sayyid Ali Fadlallah

13.Lebanese teenagers who were charged of insulting Christianity have been handed the unusual sentence of studying the references to the Virgin Mary found in the Quran (February 2018)

1.Enact a unified Civil Code for the Personal Status Law that will prevail over the existing religious/sectarian personal status law and that is mandatory for all citizens, while still allowing religious marriages for those who wish to honor their beliefs (Command and control)

2.Establish a Senate that represents all the Lebanese sects in implementation of the constitution, in order to guarantee their representation and the protection of their cultural identities (Institutional change)

3.Conduct a new national census (Service provision)

4.Replace the current government that is formed and supported by the main sectarian political parties with an independent one in order to prevent the situation in which religion is perceived as a way to gain votes (Institutional change)

5.Include history of all religions in school curricula (Service provision)