Relationships as Keys to Understanding: Almaty's First Cross-Cultural Religious Literacy Advanced Training

Only through relationships have we truly come to know one another. Through relationships, we found answers to pressing questions and overcame stereotypes about each other.

From December 10 to 13, in the city of Almaty, at Caspian University, a training session on “Cross-Cultural Religious Literacy” was held. This training brought together heads of religious affairs departments from all regions of Kazakhstan. The government of Kazakhstan, LYNCommunity, Caspian University, and several representatives from various organizations collaborated to make this training possible.

During the training, two roundtable discussions were held with leaders of religious communities in Almaty. These leaders shared insights about their religious groups, how their faith traditions guide them in treating members of other religious communities, and practical steps for fostering interfaith harmony.

“It is very important that these roundtables were witnessed by officials—representatives of our country’s authorities—who could hear and see the readiness of religious leaders to engage with others. This is very valuable and significant,” said one of the religious community leaders in Almaty.

The hope remains that these roundtables will serve as an inspiring example of building multifaith, multi-religious relations in contemporary Kazakhstani society and that this model can be adopted and developed across many regions of Kazakhstan.

The multifaith round table, which included leaders of religious organizations during the training, became a key event as it demonstrated the idea of ​​covenantal pluralism¹ in practice. 

In addition to the fact that the round table participants shared about their religious movements and practices, they shared what their own religion says about the attitude towards representatives of other religions. It is remarkable that on the second day of the training, a second-round table was held, and religious leaders were also present. On this day, the round table was moderated by the chairman of the Department of Religions of Almaty under the city mayor. We desire that this model of interreligious round tables be adopted and implemented in all regions of Kazakhstan.

Today, when the world is torn apart by interethnic, interreligious, and international conflicts and fratricidal wars, and interreligious hostility is a completely common thing, LYNCommunity offers a completely new approach to peace and harmony by using the example of multi-religious round tables during the training on religious literacy. As we know, only through relationships can we get to know each other and overcome the stereotypes we have about each other.