There has been a dialogue between the different religions for many years now, and its a good thing. Growing up the 50's and 60's as a Catholic in Britain, we wouldn't have dreamt of going anywhere near any other church that was Christian but not Catholic, ie Protestant, in Catholic-speak.
I can remember as a child being addressed by the Priest on the last day of summer term at assembly, and being told that just because we were going on hols, we still needed to go to Mass every Sunday. He went on to say that if we couldn't find a Catholic Church wherever we staying, than a Russian or Greek Orthodox would do, at a pinch, but under no circumstances were we to go to a Protestant Church ! Instant one-way trip to hell was promised. Now we used to go and stay with relatives on Dartmoor and quite where we were supposed to find a bloody Orthodox Church there is beyond me !
I no longer go to church but I would hope that the kind of blinkered thinking of the 50's and 60's is behind us now.
Therein lies a problem. British Muslims, on the whole, seem to be regular practitioners of their religion, and a major part of that would be attending services at their Mosque. But most of us white, so-called Christian Brits go nowhere near a church if they can possible help it. Maybe a wedding or funeral every now and then but that's it. I worked on the Census in 2011 and helped hundreds of people to complete their forms. Most of them were a bit stymied by the religion question, and said something along the lines of
"Well, I never go to Church but I suppose I am a Christian!
So how does this much needed dialogue take place ? If the local Mosque were to have a open day, then I would be glad to go, even if it was only for a good nose around ! Perhaps my local Mosque DOES have open days....I shall have to find out.
We only need to look at Northern Ireland to see the result of years of ignoring the other side, to see the huge problems that have ensued. Here in Wales a mixed school is where boys and girls go together. In Belfast, if they have such a thing, its where Catholics and Protestants learn alongside each other. People generally don't mix together at all if they can help it. They even have different footballs teams.