Experts often talk about a clash of civilizations between radical Islam and the West or Islam and Christianity. More accurately, there is a clash between fundamentalist strands of all religions and more moderate tolerant strands (no matter how conservative or liberal the theology of those tolerant strands might be). This is particularly true as to those fundamentalist Muslims, Jews, Christians, Hindus etc. who believe that they have a religious mandate either to use violence to impose their views on others or to use political power to impose their views in ways that limit the religious freedom or basic human rights of those who disagree. That is the dividing point in this clash and the success of more tolerant strands will have consequences for each of our religious traditions and for our shrinking world.

So it is in all of our interests to find ways to strengthen the more tolerant expressions of religion. The question is how to do it, for there is an inherent paradox in such efforts. The very act of visibly assisting more tolerant, moderate strands of a religious community may lead that community to see the moderates as doing the bidding of outsiders. Such perceptions discredit moderates and undermine their ability to capture the hearts and minds of the very people one would hope they could most significantly influence.

That does not mean that there are not constructive steps that can be taken to support moderates in, for example, the Muslim world. Enhanced dialogue among moderates in all religious groups can deepen our understanding of other religious traditions and strengthen personal bonds and trust among religious leaders. We can more effectively disseminate best practices of various religious communities in confronting extremism. We can engage in dialogue with more fundamentalist elements so as to deepen their understanding and respect for more moderate streams as well as broaden their agenda. (Consider, for example, the changes taking place among U.S. fundamentalist Christians as engagement in coalitional efforts with more moderate groups has moved them from an exclusive focus on a limited agenda of abortion, gay marriage, and school prayer to a broader agenda including poverty, global warming, debt relief and global HIV/AIDS. The impact of this engagement manifested itself in this last election.)

Since more extreme voices dominate the media, we can lift up and give support to moderate voices more effectively than we have done, providing access to media outlets and training in the use of new technologies for spreading moderate voices. When troubling manifestations of extremism in one community take place, rather than instantly calling publicly on moderate religious leaders in that community to condemn the extremist statements and actions (so that when moderate leaders act they are criticized for doing outsiders’ bidding), we can give them the opportunity to act first and then show ourselves to be supportive of such efforts.

We must also be far more sensitive and sophisticated in assessing how our actions are viewed by the rest of the world so that we can maintain our credibility as well as that of the moderates whom we seek to strengthen. Often, as was the case with the Pope’s speech in Regensburg, words and actions are predictably heard and seen differently than intended. Both religious communities (and democratic nations) need to anticipate that and act more wisely

Finally, we need to do a better job in lifting up successful interfaith efforts aimed at rebutting the extremists. This would include not only the work of established groups like the World Conference of Religion for Peace and the World Faith Development Dialogue, but more importantly, ad hoc efforts addressing urgent concerns from influential indigenous religious leaders. One example: When the remarkable “Alexandria Declaration” regarding Middle East peace was issued by Muslim, Christian and Jewish religious figures from the Middle East (many of whom had never worked together before), we failed to disseminate it effectively through our respective communities and to make of it the historic cultural, political, religious landmark that it was. (One might make a similar argument about the statement of the 38 prominent Muslim leaders in response to the Pope’s speech in Regensburg.) We must not lose such opportunities again if we are to work together to strengthen moderate voices in our respective communities.