Multifaithworld.org

Proposed Muslim Community Center near Ground Zero: Let’s Have the Right Conversation!

May 25, 2010 by Nancy Fuchs-Kreimer

Over the weekend, I posted an opinion piece on Huffington Post about the controversy surrounding “Cordoba House,” the proposed community center and mosque to be built in lower Manhattan.You can read it here.

Over 300 people have taken the time to post comments, and I am sorry to report that much of the conversation is disheartening. There is so much ignorance, anger and fear out there!

I urge you to follow this issue and try to steer the conversation in helpful directions. We have a long way to go…

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged daisy kahn, feisal abdul rauf, ground zero mosque, muslim community center | Leave a Comment »

Room at the Table

May 2, 2010 by melissaheller

I was pleased to be able to attend the conference in April sponsored by Andover Newton Theological School and Hebrew College Rabbinical School, “Educating Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Leaders for Service in a Multi-Religious World: The American Seminary Context.”

Like my colleague Nancy, who blogged about the experience below, I came away impressed and inspired, also noting many of the recurring themes that Nancy listed in her last post.

One of them- including Evangelical Christians in inter-religious dialogue- resonates deeply with me. A course that I am currently co-teaching with Professor Emmanuel Itapson at Palmer Theological Seminary (PTS) is doing exactly that.

“Jewish-Christian Encounter Through Text”- a course offered jointly by the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College (RRC) and PTS brings together 8 Rabbinical students from RRC and 8 seminarians from PTS to study in interfaith pairs. For a semester, the students engage deeply with one another, with Biblical text as a foundation for their explorations and conversations.

What happens when you bring these seemingly disparate groups of emerging religious leaders together?
A lot.

They seek commonality. They tell stories. They bring their vulnerabilities. They navigate issues of accessibility and ownership of the text. They are offered a new lens through which to view their sacred text. They are forced to articulate their beliefs and explain aspects of their traditions to their partners, helping them to clarify their relationships to their tradition, their sacred literature and to God. As the semester progresses and trust develops, they share their challenges. They question their partners. They practice humility. They come to understand their differences-and respect them.

As the relationships deepen between the pairs, and among the group, so too does understanding. What results is a broadening of the definitions of “Progressive Jew” and “Evangelical Christian” –to include nuance, personal narratives and diversity.

While there is much I could say about the ways this experience has been thus far transformative for the students (and the instructors!) I would rather share a few words from one of the Rabbinical students taking the course. She writes:

“Each study session with [my partner] takes us deeper into the text, into our curiosity about one another and each other’s faith tradition, and into the spaces where we differ, which is where the energy and excitement (and fear of what we will encounter) lie. When we first met, we were a bit shy and polite, almost like a first date when you are excited and want to make a good first impression, and most of all do not want to get off on the wrong foot. Now we jump right into our dialogue, not wanting to waste a second and I feel slightly annoyed when someone comes to the door of “our space” and says we have to stop!…Anyway, the conversations now are beyond intellectually stimulating – they are soul stirring!”

Posted in Jewish-Christian Engagement, RRC related story, Religion in America, Sermons and Words of Torah | Tagged Christian pluralism, interfaith work, interreligious engagement, jewish christian dialogue, Multifaith Education, multifaith relations, progressive evangelical Christianity, religious education, RRC multifaith studies and initiatives, RRC rabbinical student | 1 Comment »

Educating Leaders for a Multi-Religious World

April 29, 2010 by Nancy Fuchs-Kreimer

Last week, I had the privilege of attending a wonderful conference, “Educating Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Leaders for Service in a Multi-Religious World: The American Seminary Context.” The college was hosted by Andover Newton Theological School, Boston Theological Institute, and Hebrew College. To read an overview of the conference written by Joshua Stanton, editor of the Journal of Inter-religious Dialogue, click HERE. To read Samir Selmonovic’s comments, click here.

The conference was extraordinarily rich: two and a half days filled with panels and programs from breakast till late in the evening. A wide range of speakers presented on a rich variety of topics, all related to the question of training the next generation of religious leaders. Certain themes recurred. Here is a brief list of the ones I noted:

1)Radical pluralism—Professor Diana Eck, founder of the Harvard Pluralism Project, was honored with an award at the conference and was quoted often, sometimes merely to note the title of her 2001 book, “A New Religious America: How a “Christian Country” Has Become the World’s Most Religiously Diverse Nation

2)The Need for Community Based/Experiential Learning–Rabbi Justus Baird reported on a national study Auburn Seminary conducted of multifaith education in seminaries. One surprising finding: at most, 15% of the courses involved anything beyond classroom learning. It was widely agreed that the field should make more use of community based learning, focusing more on hands-on education, including service, travel and experiential opportunities of all kinds.

3)Wild Hybridity– Several speakers, especially those working on college campuses, referenced the emerging reality of interfaith work: the boundaries between groups are less clear; sometimes the multifaith dialogue takes place within a single individual. What does it mean to be advocating conversation across groups, when the tribal ties themselves are fraying and identities are increasingly complex, faith stances increasingly syncretistic? No one thought this meant there was less need for the work of interfaith education, just that it had to take into account the changing landscape.

4)Israel/palestine–This topic arose as a central concern in a panel devoted to international issues. It also came up at other times in conversations regarding issues in Jewish-Christian and Jewish-Muslim dialogue, in discussions of funding sources and in the all-important conversations over coffee and late at night. Clearly, much more attention needs to be paid to bringing this issue into the world of interfaith in a fruitful way.

5)American Muslim Religious Leadership–Throughout the conference, we were aware of the growing presence of a second and third generation Muslim American community eager to join the multifaith conversation. That community is beginning to figure out how to train religious leaders in and for this country. On a panel devoted to this topic, Professor Ingrid Mattson, the president of the Islamic Society of North America, spoke of the need for American Muslims to commit resources to training a new generation of leaders. An Americanized version of the “imam” role may emerge(as the role of “rabbi” also adapted to a Christian context). A huge question that lingers: how will American Muslims find a common platform in the midst of religious diversity? Will we see Reform, Conservative and Orthodox versions of Islam emerge?

6)Inclusion of Evangelical Christians– Association of Theological Schools reported that the accrediting institution he works with has as its constituency Christian seminaries–21% Roman Catholic and Orthodox and the rest evenly divided between Evangelical Protestant schools and Main Line(liberal)Protestant schools. However, he pointed out, when you look at the number of students, a different picture emerges. 10% Roman Catholic/Orthodox, 60% Evangelical and 30% Mainline Protestant. Many speakers expressed their desire for interfaith work to not be limited to the progressive religious community.Panels included evangelical representatives. The modern version of interfaith left less room for evangelicals than the post-modern version does. This area holds exciting possibilities.

7)”Shacking Up”— The campus on which we met, shared by Hebrew College and Andover Newton, clearly reflects a trend that many agreed will be more important as the years go by. Funders want to know that money is used wisely, that individual institutions are not “reinventing the wheel.” Particularly when the subject is interfaith, collaboration seems often to be the best choice.

Curriculum Infusion– Many speakers agreed that adding extra courses, as if multifaith was an added on bonus/elective, was not the best way to transform seminary education. Rather, we need to think about how the formation of our clergy in all its aspects might reflect an awareness of the multifaith world they will confront.

Posted in Abrahamic Engagement, Jewish- Muslim Engagement, Jewish-Christian Engagement | Tagged andover newton seminary, diana eck, hebrew college rabbinical school, interfaith education, Multifaith Education, muslim american leadership, religious hybridity | 1 Comment »

“Praying with Your Feet” at RRC

April 13, 2010 by Nancy Fuchs-Kreimer

This week, I am at a conference sponsored by Andover Newton Seminary and Hebrew College Rabbinical School. The conference is entitled “Educating Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Leaders for Service in a Multi-Religious World: The American Seminary Context.” I can’t wait to hear about all the exciting programs being created by my counterparts throughout the country who are involved in clergy training for multifaith contexts.

I will be speaking on a panel on educational opportunities “beyond the classroom.” Although we have several major initiatives outside the classroom, including student internships with multifaith organizations, I have chosen to present our co-curricular guest speaker series, “Praying with Your Feet: Conversations with Faith Based Activists.”

. Multifaith education is about imparting information and teaching skills , but it is also about formation and inspiration. One of the values we want to impart to our rabbis is the willingness to dream big, to expand their imaginations as they envision how their rabbinates might make a difference in the world.

How do people translate their faith into action?

2008-2009

*Sheikh Ghassan Manasra — director of Anwar il-Salaam, a Muslim peace and dialogue centre based in Nazareth, Israel

*Richard Taylor – Raised in the Quaker faith, joined the Catholic Church in 1982 at the age of 49. Coordinator of Development for St. Vincent de Paul’s Peace Ministry in Philadelphia. Author, A Peace Ministry in Practice, and Why I am Still a Catholic . Read about his visit here.

*Krystin Komarnicki –Editor, Prism Magazine, published by Evangelicals for Social Action, Philadelphia. Read about her visit here.

*Samir Selmanovic — founder of Faith House Manhattan and author, It’s Really all about God. Read about his visit here.

*Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb — founder of Shomer Shalom, a network of Jewish individuals committed to the Torah of Nonviolence. ordained in the Jewish Renewal movement in 1981. Author, She Who Dwells Within: A Feminist Vision of a Renewed Judaism.(Currently Lynn is helping to launch the Community of Living Traditions — an interfaith intentional community dedicated to nonviolence at Stony Point Center(Presbyterian Church USA)Read about her visit here.

2009-2010

* Professor Mohja Kahf — Poet, Novelist and Professor of Comparative Literature, University of Arkansas, author, The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf. Activist on gender issues in Islam.

*Professor Theodore Friend — former president of Swarthmore College, Senior Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute and a member of Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church. Newest book-in-progress, Toward an Open Islam: Woman, Man, and God in Five Muslim Cultures. Read about his visit here.

*Rabbi Sheila Weinberg — co-founder and Director of Outreach at the Institute for Jewish Spirituality. author, Surprisingly Happy: an Atypical Religious Memoir(2010) Active in Rabbis for Human Rights among other justice and peace initiatives.

*Reverend Susan Teegan Case — Founding Director, Arts and Spirituality Center, Philadelphia, a not-for-profit organization comprised of artists and spiritual leaders working with multi-faith constituencies who see the interplay of artistic and spiritual expression as an avenue for social and personal healing,

Posted in Abrahamic Engagement, RRC related story, Religion in America | Leave a Comment »

Progressive Jews Studying Traditional Texts: But Why?

March 16, 2010 by Nancy Fuchs-Kreimer

Today’s ReligionDispatches carries an article by Professor Aryeh Cohen of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies of American Jewish University. Cohen does a great job of showing that there is, indeed, a sea change in the Jewish world in the relationship between traditional text study and progressive politics.

My experience in American Jewish communities, dating back to the seventies, confirms Cohen’s claims. It was rare to find a serious encounter with religious sources going hand-in-hand with left-liberal Jewish activism. The latter was the province of Reform or secular Jews who grounded their thinking less in Talmud than in Kant. The former was pursued almost entirely by Orthodox Jews who were usually conservative or not involved in the political sphere.

According to Cohen—and I happily agree—that situation is changing. Cohen offers a number of examples of Jews who are engaged in “taking back the texts.” He then asks, Why? One reason he notes is of particular interest to readers of this blog. Cohen writes that the move to ground one’s social activism in traditional Jewish text is, among other things, “a way to participate in a multiethnic and interfaith discussion from a grounded Jewish space and in a textured Jewish vocabulary.”

Fascinating! I think Cohen is right. Much social justice work in this country takes place in coalitions of faith based activists. Religiously inspired Catholics and Protestants have led many of the great social change movements in America, most dramatically the civil rights movement of the 1960′s. When Jews join with Christians to work on issues from homelessness to undocumented immigrants to the environment, they are encouraged and inspired to bring to the table their own spiritual idioms. They do not want to share the Christian language, but they are moved by Christian faith. In seeking the language of Talmud, it seems these Jews are looking less for guidance on issues than a sense of the religious depths from which they hope to act as they “heal the world.”

Here we see an example of one of the ways interfaith encounter enriches our lives.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

RRC Multifaith Salon Welcomes Prof. Theodore Friend

March 15, 2010 by melissaheller

A Jesuit priest and a Medical Mission Sister, two scholars of Islam wearing hijabs, a healthy dose of rabbis, rabbinical students and ministers, and assorted colleagues and friends gathered to hear a learned historian who is a former college president and a Presbyterian elder……

We were there as part of our ongoing salon series, Praying with Your Feet: Conversations with Socially-Engaged Religious Activists, a program sponsored by RRC’s Department of Multifaith Studies and Initiatives. Over the last three years these salons have brought a diverse group visionary leaders of many faiths to speak to our rabbinical students and to the larger community, to share the spiritual and intellectual journeys that guide their work.

Last week our guest was Professor Theodore Friend.

Friend is an historian, novelist and educator. He is the former president of Swarthmore College, a Senior Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute and an active member of Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church.

Friend shared some of the journey that brought him to be writing his book-in-progress, Toward an Open Islam: Woman, Man, and God in Five Muslim Cultures.

He also shared some of his research with us-which is in the form of hundreds of interviews with Muslim women and men across 5 countries. Not lost on Friend, or the group, was the irony of his endeavor. He opened the session by asking himself, and us, “What’s an old Protestant white guy like me doing studying the Islamic world?”

Listening to Friend was powerful and instructive- not only because of the personal stories he shared, but also in the way he modeled humility and integrity, stopping often to seek input from the group, welcoming interpretation and even gentle critique, as he affirmed the collective wisdom in the room. In doing so, he modeled a person seeking to engage deeply with persons of another faith, taking seriously the responsibility to accurately represent complexities and nuance within Islam. He brings to his work an awareness that facts are not just facts- they land in a social context and become part of that context in ways that can be harmful as well as helpful.

We look forward to our final salon for the year, to take place in late April, when we will welcome Rabbi Sheila Weinberg author of the forthcoming Surprisingly Happy-An Atypical Religious Memior, and a graduate of RRC who has engaged deeply with Buddhism.

Posted in Jewish- Muslim Engagement, Jewish-Christian Engagement, Middle East, RRC related story | Tagged interfaith work, interreligious engagement, jewish christian dialogue, jewish muslim dialogue, jewish muslim relations, Multifaith Education, multifaith relations, religious education, religious social activists, RRC multifaith studies and initiatives, RRC rabbinical student | 1 Comment »

Young American Muslims Tell Their Story on YouTube

March 12, 2010 by Nancy Fuchs-Kreimer

Recently, I came across two videos on YouTube, each designed to let young American Muslims have their chance to tell their truths—to present images different from the ones that too often fill the popular imagination.

Are these videos needed? According to a Gallup Center for Muslim Studies report released in February, indeed they are. More than 4 in 10 Americans (43%) admit to feeling at least “a little” prejudice toward Muslims — more than twice the number who say the same about Christians (18%), Jews (15%) and Buddhists (14%).

These two examples are not the same in their method, although both address some of the key prejudices Americans typically hold about Muslims.

The first was created by the Center for American Progress.

The second was by Kareem Salama, a “Muslim cowboy.”

Please check them out and let us know here what you like and why.

Posted in Abrahamic Engagement, Religion in America | Tagged American Muslims, Kareem Salama, Center for American Progress | Leave a Comment »

What’s the big deal?

March 3, 2010 by Nancy Fuchs-Kreimer

In this article, Ira Rivkin raises an interesting question. The New York Times wants us to see the story of the friendship of two Princeton undergrads–a Palestinian and a Jew–as a big deal, worthy of a news item. But, Rivkin points out, doesn’t that just perpetuate the stereotype of emnity the story purports to challenge? What is the role of the “feel good” story in tracking Muslim-Jewish relations? What do you think?

Posted in Jewish- Muslim Engagement, Religion in America | Tagged jewish muslim dialogue | 2 Comments »

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#February 18, "Finding God in the Other," Samir Selmonovic, Faith House Manhattan, 11:05 a.m. at RRC (for RRC community) #March 19th, "The Big Questions in Science and Religion," Keith Ward, University of Oxford, open to the public, more info at www.metanexus.net #April 1, "Jewish Education and Neuroscience," Adi Flesher, 12:30 p.m. (open to the public with reservations, email mheller@rrc.edu) #April 26, "Sacred Texts Trialogue," Lutheran Theological Seminary(open to the public, see www.Ltsp.edu/trialogue for more information) #May 6, Salon conversation, "Praying with Your Feet," Kristyn Komarnicki, editor of Prism: Evangelicals for Social Action (for RRC community)
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