News & Notes

Conversation at Campbell United Methodist at an earlier dinner gathering.

Interreligious gatherings ranging from a rally on behalf of a “Commitment to the Common Good” to a picnic and a prayer service are among the events that will mark September 11, the 11th anniversary of the tragic attacks on the Twin Towers by radical terrorists.

For many, those events were a wake-up call to the need to understand more about their neighbors and to forge relationships of trust and compassion that would make for a stronger community which would include diversity, rather than foster suspicion and hostility.

Among the congregations to reach out was the United Methodist Church of Campbell. Several years ago, they invited members of the Muslim community in Santa Clara County to join them for a dinner and prayer service, and that gathering has become a regular part of 9/11 commemorations since. This year is no different, as the church opens its doors to Muslims and others in the community for a vegetarian, kosher, and halal meal, opportunity for interreligious conversation and time for prayers. The event, “Building Bridges: An Evening of Unity and Understanding,” is co-sponsored by the Pacifica Institute, a Muslim group that promotes cross-cultural understanding.

Dinner reservations are now closed, but any interested people are welcome to join the prayers and discussion, which will begin with Muslim evening prayers in the church courtyard at about 8:00 pm, followed by further remembrances and prayers in the Chapel. The church is located at 1675 Winchester Blvd., Campbell.

McEntee Plaza in front of the Santa Clara County building at 70 W. Hedding in San Jose will be the venue for another dinner and gathering, hosted by American Muslim Voice and County Supervisor Dave Cortese. From 5:00 – 7:00 pm, faith groups and community organizations will gather as part of the “Miracle Movement of Peace and Friendship.” A free dinner will be offered, and attendees are asked to bring “poems, essays, songs, skits, or spoken words” that express their vision of an inclusive nation. Co-sponsors of the event include an array of interfaith groups, religious congregations, and governmental agencies.

A gathering of a different type will take place at 11:00 am at St. Joseph’s Cathedral at 80 South Market Street, San Jose. Religious leaders from Catholic, Muslim, Jewish, Unitarian, and other traditions will lead a worship service affirming the religious values that undergird a commitment to the common good. The service will be followed by a short walk to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Library at 4th and San Fernando Streets, where there will be a rally in support of several upcoming ballot issues. The event is sponsored by San Jose PACT and the Interfaith Council on Economics and Justice.

Passover, the Jewish celebration of freedom that centers around the story of the deliverance from Egypt, begins next Friday, April 6. In preparation for Passover, Peninsula Temple Sholom in Burlingame, together with the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Peninsula and the First Presbyterian Church of Burlingame held an interfaith seder service on Thursday, March 29.

The seder, or traditional Passover meal, included reflections on the “Four Freedoms” described by President Franklin Roosevelt in his 1941 State of the Union address: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear.

Over 170 people from Jewish, Christian, and Muslim communities in the area joined in this interfaith celebration, which was held at Peninsula Temple Sholom and featured music by the Temple Cantor Barry Reich and members of the First Presbyterian of Burlingame Choir.

The traditional seder includes several references to the number four. During the ritual meal, four glasses of wine are blessed and drunk; there are four questions asked by the youngest person present; there is a description of four kinds of children and the questions they ask. Following this pattern, four religious leaders offered reflections on each of the Four Freedoms.

Dr. Elizabeth Frykberg of the Presbyterian church spoke about freedom of speech; Rabbi Rebekah Stern of Temple Sholom addressed freedom of worship. Rev. Paul Watermulder and Rabbi Daniel Feder finished with comments on freedom from want and freedom from fear.

Three additional faith leaders added their perspectives: Maha Elgenaidi, Executive Director of Islamic Networks Group, based in San Jose; Rev. Kristi Denham of the Congregational Church of Belmont; and Rabbi Corey Helfand of Peninsula Sinai Congregation.

As those seated around the tables followed traditional rituals of breaking unleavened bread, dipping parsley into salt water, and tasting bitter herbs, all part of remembering the Exodus story, they also joined in singing more modern songs and sharing in prayers for the world of today. There was opportunity for learning about the Jewish traditions of Passover, and to meet and talk with people of other faiths.

This was the first interfaith seder in Burlingame, but everyone agreed that it should become a yearly custom.

Earlier this month, I went to  “Common Ground,” a gathering at the American Baptist Seminary of the West aimed at bringing American Baptists in the Bay Area together with local Muslims for the first time in a formal way.

This was the first of three such events which will take place across the country. Similar gatherings will take place at Central Baptist Seminary in Kansas City and the Proctor School of Theology in Richmond, VA. The Rev. Roy Medley, Executive Minister of the American Baptist Churches USA described how the idea began with encounters that he had with Baptist groups in Lebanon and later in the Republic of Georgia (former Soviet Union). In both countries, Baptist leaders had challenged him to return to the US and to work to build relationships with Muslims here that would be as functional as those developed in those countries.

Baptists and Muslims have some history of working together in this country. In 2008, the Baptist World Alliance (of which the American Baptist Churches USA are members), responded to “A Common Word Between You and Us,” an invitiation from Muslim scholars around the world for Christians to enter into dialogue around issues of faith and action (see the BWA response).

The Common Ground session began with a panel moderated by Academic Dean LeAnn Flesher which included Rev. Dr. James Hopkins, the Senior Pastor at Lakeshore Avenue Baptist Church in Oakland and former president of the Alliance of Baptists; Rev. Dr. J. Alfred Smith, Pastor Emeritus of Allen Temple Baptist Church in Oakland, a predominantly African-American church; Ameena Jandali, Content Director and co-founder of Islamic Networks Group (ING), and Imam Faheem Shuaibe, Imam of Masjidul Waritheen in Oakland, affiliated with the American Society of Muslims. Individually, and then together, they addressed questions of why Baptists and Muslims should be interested in dialogue with each other, how they understand love of God and love of neighbor, and how the two communities might work together to address issues in the broader community.

There was opportunity for round table conversation on those same questions, though Baptists far outnumbered Muslims within the 50 or so people present. Still, for many it was the first step in encountering one another in such a way. As Imam Shuaib said, “how can you cooperate with each other if without talking to each other and understanding what the other is saying?”

Although it was not intentionally planned that way, the Common Ground dialogue took place during World Intefaith Harmony Week (February 1-7).  There are hopes for more dialogue in the future, especially since ABSW recently leased some of its facilities to Zaytuna College, the first college to focus on training Muslim scholars who are equipped to work with others to create a more open, multicultural, and tolerant society.

It seems that it’s been a while since I’ve posted here- and now that we’re into a slower time in the Summer months, I have time to catch up on some of what’s been happening.

The Interfaith Alliance and Human Rights First invited congregations to celebrate Faith Shared – crossing religious boundaries on June 26, sharing scriptures from the varied traditions and affirming the freedom of worship.

In his report of the events, Tad Stahnke, Director of Policy and Programs at Human Rights First, observed:

It is true that in recent years the United States has seen a disturbing trend of anti-Muslim violence, discrimination and rhetoric, as well as a general lack of understanding about Islam. We’ve seen Qur’an burnings, individuals attacked only because they are Muslims, a pipe bomb explosion at an Islamic community centre in Florida and a surge in reported cases of discrimination against Muslims in workplaces and schools throughout the country.

But those incidents – all of which have grabbed headlines – don’t represent the views of so many Americans who respect religious freedom and the diversity of faiths that freedom brings.

Across the country, people gathered to share their scriptures and to hear from religious leaders of their different communities. “Americans are a nation not of the few who burn Qur’ans and incite hatred, but of the many who fully embrace religious freedom, tolerance and pluralism.”

• Churches across America read from the Qur’an
  (Common Ground News Service)

At last week’s annual Holocaust Memorial service, sponsored by the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, Imam Suhaib Webb of the Muslim Community Association spoke of his experience as part of a delegation of Muslim leaders who visited Auschwitz together.

What bonds us together is stronger than what pulls us apart as communities. And we can no longer allow within our own communities the rhetoric of racism in the name of truth, and bigotry in the name of self-righteous assumptions to dominate.

Here’s the imam’s presentation:

ING is a internationally respected educational organization based in San Jose that has been providing education in religious literacy for schools, hospitals, governmental agencies, law enforcement personnel, congregations, and community groups since 1993. It began with an Islamic Speakers Bureau to educate people about Islam and Muslims, but a couple of years ago it expanded to include an Interfaith Speakers Bureau, which include speakers from Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, and Jewish traditions as well as Islam. (Full disclosure- the writer is a member of the Scholars’ Advisory Board of ING and helped develop the curriculum for the Christian speakers.)

In response to the current fuss over “Sharia Law” in the US, often used by politicians to stir up anti-Muslim sentiment and drive wedges between people in this country, ING will offer an online webinar on Sharia Saturday, May 7, 2010, from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm.

The webinar will be led by ING Content Director (and co-founder) Ameena Jandali and ING Content Manager Haroon Moghul. It will feature a slideshow presentation about Sharia and answer common questions about what it is and what it really means.

Registration is required for the webinar; there is no cost to sign up. Information and registration is available on the ING website. For more information, contact Ali Rangwala at 408-296-7312.

At a time when State Legislatures in Missouri, South Carolina, and Oklahoma have debated anti-Sharia laws and notorious Qur’an-burning pastor Terry Jones was prevented from holding an anti-Sharia demonstration in front of the Islamic Center of America in Dearborn, Michigan, it is important to understand what Sharia is and what it is not.

Things in Egypt have been moving faster than I have been able to keep up with. Most heartening are the many stories of how the Muslim and Christian communities there have been working together.

My friend Rev. Susan Strouse, Interim Director of the Interfaith Center at the Presidio and Pastor of First United Lutheran Church in San Francisco, has written about this:

One incident, in the midst of this political turmoil, however, is enough to give us all hope. Last Friday, Christian protesters in Tahrir Square joined hands and formed a protective circle around Muslim protesters, assuring their safety as they conducted their prayers.

Then on Sunday, the Muslims did the same for the Christians, surrounding their worship service in the central plaza.  Rev. Ihab al-Kharat spoke to the crowd: ”In the name of Jesus and Muhammed, we unify our rank.”  Later, the crowd of both Muslims and Christians chanted “one hand” – meaning “we are one” – and held up a Cross and a Qur’an.

You can read more at her blog site P.S.- Pastor Susan’s Blog

You might have missed this story- following a suicide bomber’s attack on a Coptic Christian church in Alexandra, Egypt that killed 23 people attending Mass, thousands of Muslims made a point of attending services for the Coptic celebration of Christmas on January 7th. They wanted to demonstrate their support for the Christian community and to serve as “human shields” for their neighbors.

One Muslim attendee at Mass in Cairo told the L.A. Times, “I’m here to tell all my Coptic brothers that Muslims and Christians are an inseparable pillar of Egypt’s texture. Copts have to know that we will share any pains or threats they go through.”

Coptic Christianity is one of the oldest Christian traditions in the world, tracing its origins to the ancient academy at Alexandria and the monastic traditions that developed among the Desert Fathers. It is the largest Christian community in the Middle East, and encompasses roughly 10% of the population of Egypt.

Read more:

• Thousands of Egyptian Muslims Serve as Human Shields to Protect Coptic Christians
  (Parliament of the World’s Religions Blog)
• EGYPT: Some Copts and Muslims come together during Orthodox Christmas
  (L.A. Times)
• Muslims protect churches
  (National Post)

In a recent post on Religion Dispatches, Haroon Moghul of the Maydan Institute notes that the best way to counter prejudice against Muslims is to meet Muslims. We are fortunate in our area to have many opportunities for such encounters. Sometimes, though, it may be more difficult. It might be hard to find a Muslim with whom to talk, or it might simply be too threatening to take such a step. In that case, Moghul has another suggestion:

The next best thing to a living, breathing Muslim is an approximation of one. That is, the silver screen (had you said robots, I’d counter: Muslims will be the last people on Earth to come up with robots). Why not? Movies explore the lives and experiences of Muslims in a format that can be watched as easily at home as on the train (that’s what iPads are for).

He goes on to list a number of films that are available from Netflix or other sources and which can offer insight into the lives, history, and experience of Muslims.

Read the article at Religion Dispatches:

• How to Meet Muslims: A (Cinematic) Primer

The GilroyDispatch published an excellent article yesterday by Lisa Pampuch addressing some recent opposition to plans for a mosque proposed by the South Valley Islamic Center. After pointing out that similar blind opposition was once raised against Japanese Americans, African Americans, and gay Americans, she reminds us:

This country was founded on the principles of freedom of speech, religion, assembly; our Constitution promises that everyone will receive equal protection from our laws. Let’s not abandon the principles that our forefathers fought, bled and died to defend. It’s up to those of us who value their sacrifices to protect those principles today. Those of us who consider ourselves to be patriots must fight un-American bigotry, rank ignorance and fear mongering whenever they appear.

You can read the full article at the GilroyDispatch website.