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President Mohammad Khatami in a message to the meeting on dialogue among religions here touched on the year 2001, called by the UN as the year of dialogue among civilizations and said designation of the year as such does not mean monopoly or even restriction.
Dialogue among cultures deserves a time spanning all over the history, said the message, adding that not a single moment in man's history can be traced in which no dialogue has been held among various fields of thoughts and culture.
Dialogue has a long history but only over a small portion of the world, said Khatami. He added that limited pages can be found in natural geography that have been serving as the cradle of dialogue wherein dialogue has taken a resort.
``The history of dialogue can be reviewed from the geography angle and on the other hand the geography can be debated from historical outlook,'' he added.
Citing Lebanon as a country whose political, social and economic relations are established based on dialogue, Khatami said dialogue among religions is given a priority in Lebanon compared to other forms of dialogue, namely dialogue among cultures and civilizations.
Dialogue among religions gives way to elevation of scholars' understanding and is the only rational and ethical way to guarantee a life full of security, justice, peace and friendship, he added.
One of the most important rhetorical issues that can be taken as an issue in comparative study of Islam and Christianity is the issue of dialogue between God and Man from Islam and Christianity points of view. He praised Christianity for its focus on dialogue as a rhetorical issue.
The divine book (the holy Quran) calls itself as ``Kalamullah' (Word of God), containing collection of the words revealed to mankind by the prophet so that they would hear, said Hojatoleslam Khatami, adding that naturally, when a religion calls its book as `Kalam' (Word) it shows the importance it attaches to listening.
The holy Quran promises those who listen to others and follows the best piece of their word that they have been guided and are men of thought and reason.
The holy Quran exhorts humans to listen impartially to what they hear, to select the best of what they hear and keep the torch of dialogue alive.
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