LAUSR

The segregation between faith communities is better explained by exploring the sociocultural frameworks with which people identify because of their value orientations, than by reference to doctrinal disagreements. In most faith communities not only values like charity or justice count, but also the the sacredness and authority of traditions, people, and places, as well as the importance of ethnic recognizability and loyalty to the ingroup. These latter normative orientations explain why it is so difficult for faith communities to engage in ecumenical processes of unification. Given this, I explore two sociopsychological viable ways in which ecumenical unity may be fostered.