When we’re young, dialogue can feel very simple.It typically takes place during classroom discussions, talks with our guardians around the dinner table (or TV), or in the arguments between friends. It might revolve around our own wants and feelings and, at that age. We could be taught that dialogue simply means letting others speak and then sharing our own thoughts. It’s often about participating in conversation in a respectful way and less so about truly seeking to understand why someone feels the way they do.
The reason why is understandable: as we grow and mature, we must first understand ourselves and how our experiences have shaped us. It’s when we begin to have a foundation for understanding why we are the way we are that we can start to explore what has created and shaped our lived experiences. As we mature into adulthood and become more established in our identities, faith traditions, and beliefs, we grow more confident in hearing how others are established in their own.
© Mosaic: Interfaith Youth Action 2025
Go into most middle school classrooms and while you might witness lively discussions, it typically takes time to grasp the core objectives of dialogue and on how to sit with ideas that are different than our own. Dialogue is the process of making space for others and asking that they make space for you in return. We focus on centering different perspectives to recognize how each person’s truth can be just as valid as our own. If you have participated in any number of Mosaic programming then you know that we believe it is that ability to sit in shared spaces comfortably that leads to the transformational experiences that happen in our environments.
We place dialogue at the center of all our programs because without it we miss the ability to truly bring others into our space in a way that allows for everyone to become a part of the vibrant mosaic that shows the diversity of our larger community. At Mosaic we aim to give teens the tools to change their questions from “How could you possibly feel that way?” to “What experience shaped the reason you feel that way?”
Earlier this year, Mosaic worked closely with The Ikeda Center for Peace, Learning, and Dialogue and SOKA University to teach a learning cluster of college students how dialogue can shape religion and politics. During, we taught participants how to sit in disagreement respectfully without feeling the need to change others in the room. From our ‘Taking a Stance’ icebreaker where the objective is to share and hear one’s opinion on relevant topics in today’s society and listen without trying to persuade, to our learning seminar “The Do’s and Don’t of Dialogue”, we teach that dialogue is a practice of listening deeply, speaking honestly, and holding space for perspectives different than your own. Dialogue begins when we seek to understand before being understood. If we all do this we begin to create spaces where trust, empathy, and meaningful connections grow thereby creating a bridge over any divide.
We believe that dialogue must be at the core of all interfaith spaces. Why? Because when we learn to hear a person over the noise of politics, dogma, or preconceptions- real community is formed. Community, after all, is an action word. It’s a deliberate decision to show up, to listen, to care. It is not just something that “happens”, but rather something that is built through the intentional practices of compassion, communication, and shared responsibility. Interfaith spaces are the foundation for our larger community to rest upon. These spaces teach us how to uplift, care for, and love thy neighbor even if our neighbor speaks a different language, waves a different flag, or celebrates different holidays. To uphold the values of the American melting pot is to uphold the values of interfaith dialogue.
SOKA University students holding up their peace flags after participating in a Mosaic Dialogue Session
Mosaic Programming is Free
Mosaic is committed to ensuring that financial barriers never prevent participation.
