News & Notes

It’s always wonderful to see people from my own tradition, Baptists, advocating for respect and understanding of other religious traditions. Baptists historically have been champions of religious liberty and the separation of church and state, and it is entirely consistent for Baptists to stand at the side of other religious groups.

At the 20th congress of the Baptist World Alliance last week in Honolulu, a workshop titled, “Christian and Muslim Siblings: Children of Abraham and Sarah and Hagar” was led by Nabil Costa, executive director of the Lebanese Baptist Society in Beirut, and Robert Sellers, professor at Logsdon School of Theology in Abilene, Texas.

“The vilification of Christianity by Muslim extremists in order to justify militant jihad and the need to convert an ‘immoral’ West to Islam is alive and well,” Costa wrote. “In the same way, political and media voices in the West have used long-standing prejudice against Islam in order to paint a vile picture of a religion that is part of an ‘axis of evil’ and bent on the destruction of a so-called ‘free world.’”

Noting the case of Ergun Caner, former president of Liberty Baptist Seminary (Jerry Falwell’s school), who was recently forced to resign after it became evident that he had been falsifying his previous life as a “Muslim,” Costa noted:

“Based on the Bible’s teaching against slander…we cannot accept that wrong information continues to be propagated about Islam and Muslims. Too many self-proclaimed and self-styled ‘experts’ on Islam have emerged in our circles since September 11, 2001. They have been received and their teaching embraced and idealized in our churches simply because their discourse has been feeding our phobias and they are confirming our suspicions. In other words, they are tickling our ears and captivating our hearts,” said Costa.

Costa and Sellers challenged Baptists to avoid stereotyping and misrepresentation of Muslims, and to seek out a new future with their “spiritual siblings.”

• BWA Leaders Lament Christian Vilification of Muslims, Offer Constructive Way Forward (Ethics Daily)

Sometimes Jon Stewart of the Daily Show has the most insightful commentary on issues and events in the news. Here, for example, is his recent commentary on how Fox news works to stir up hostility toward Muslims in the US:

In his Baccalaureate address to the Stanford Graduating Class of 2010, Eboo Patel, founder of the Interfaith Youth Core, shared the story of Brother Wayne, one of those people “who live at a slight angle to the universe, who see the world through kaleidoscope eyes. Others in this line include historical figures from St Francis of Assisi to Shams of Tabriz, literary characters from Zorba the Greek to Don Quixote.”

Patel described how Brother Wayne and Stanford University figured significantly in his own decision to create a youth interfaith movement:

It occurred on this piece of earth twelve years ago, almost to the day. Brother Wayne sent me to an interfaith conference at Stanford University in June of 1998. “They are all very spiritual people,” he said of the senior religious leaders and theologians who gathered to draft documents and plan further conferences – “but they are spiritual and over sixty.” That was Brother Wayne’s way of articulating urgency. In his soft way he was saying: If religious extremism is a movement of young people taking action and interfaith cooperation continues to be a movement of older people talking, we lose.

And he challenged the graduates to be a little “crazy” in working to improve the world:

I think maybe I’ve become a little crazy myself. In fact, I’ve learned to iterate on craziness. Here’s my most recent one. Previous generations created new social norms. Civil rights is a social norm. Environmentalism is a social norm. Human rights is a social norm. All thanks to young people. Why can’t this generation make interfaith cooperation a social norm?

• A Brother Wayne of Your Own (On Faith, Washington Post)
• Interfaith Youth Core (Chicago)

ING, a locally based international organization, issued a statement yesterday that condemns the attempted bombing plot in New York, cautions Muslims against extremism, and recalls the constructive interfaith work that Muslims have engaged in. ING began in 1993, offering education about Islam and Muslims in schools, congregations, and other public arenas. In recent years, ING’s program has expanded into developing an Interfaith Speakers Bureau, which provides education about the major religious traditions in our communities.

Here’s the ING statement:

ING Condemns NYC Plot and Supports Efforts against Extremism (San Jose, CA 05/05/2010) -

ING (Islamic Networks Group) joins American Muslims and all Americans in voicing outrage at the latest in a string of attacks or plots in recent months that have been perpetrated by Muslims. Saturday’s plot to explode an SUV in Times Square was foiled due to the bravery of New York residents – including a Senegalese Muslim Aliou Niasse, who was the first to notice the smoking car – and the swift work of law enforcement agencies. Plots or attacks such as this that target innocent people are nothing less than hiraba, an Arabic word that means “sowing corruption on earth.” Hiraba is strictly condemned by the Qur’an in the strongest terms, as is the taking of innocent lives, one of the most egregious crimes in Islam. We support all efforts to both counter the ideology that twists Islamic teachings and sanctions prohibited actions, and prevent the reoccurrence of such heinous acts. We applaud the efforts of organizations such as the Muslim Public Affairs Council which is working with law enforcement agencies in concrete ways to combat extremism through its recommendations in a report titled, Forging an Effective Counterterrorism Enterprise between Muslim Americans and Law Enforcement.
For those who are still not clear about the Islamic position on terrorism, we reference the numerous and repeated statements and condemnations of Muslim scholars across the world since 9/11. A small sampling of such statements includes:

• A position paper by the largest American Muslim membership organization, Islamic Society of North America, titled ISNA Position Against Terrorism and Religious Extremism.
• Videotaped statements by American Muslim scholars titled, American Muslim Scholars Speak Out Against Religious Extremism or Terrorism.
• Religious edicts or fatwas by the following groups and scholars:
  • American Fiqh Council titled: Fatwa Against Terrorism which was signed by both religious leaders and organizations.
  • Senior Saudi cleric, Salman Al Odeh, who notes that most terror victims are Muslims.
  • A recently released 600 page tome on the topic by Pakistani scholar Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, which is said to be the most detailed and comprehensive case against Islamic extremism authored by a Muslim

Read More

A District Court Judge in Madison, Wisconsin, has ruled that the National Day of Prayer is unconstitutional. In response to a suit filed by the Freedom from Religion Foundation, Judge Barbara Crabb ruled that the observance, which dates back to 1952, “goes beyond mere ‘acknowledgment’ of religion because its sole purpose is to encourage all citizens to engage in prayer, an inherently religious exercise that serves no secular function in this context.”

I have written several times before about the National Day of Prayer. At the very least, any observance of the National Day of Prayer needs to include a recognition of the diverse religious (and non-religious) groups that make up our communities. The Committee for a National Day of Prayer has consistently made it clear that they are only willing to cooperate not just with Christians, but with Christians of a particular theological persuasion. Insofar as this kind of support is endorsed and participated in by governmental agencies, I’d agree that the Day is unconstitutional.

“One News Now,” the website sponsored by the American Family News Network (think ,  invites its readers to participate in an online “poll” in response to the decision. The options offered are:

What’s your reaction to a judge’s ruling that the National Day of Prayer violates the First Amendment prohibition on gov’t endorsement of religion?

1. No surprise – that is the way America seems to be headed
2. Will likely spur more participation in the event this year
3. Further proof that judges with an agenda are getting bolder

As is usual with One News Now polls, the answers are skewed to one point of view and my honest answer would be “none of the above.” Still, I suspect that there will be people who will be spurred on to participate in National Day of Prayer events in response to the ruling. Yet it seems to me that a hostile and “in your face” response to the changing face of religious commitment in this country is hardly in the spirit of prayer.

• Wisconsin: Prayer Day Ruled Unconstitutional (New York Times)
• Federal judge: National Day of Prayer is unconstitutional (Christian Science Monitor)

“One Voice of Faith,” a National Interfaith Conference on Global Poverty, will take place this coming Tuesday and Wednesday, April 20-21, at St. Mary’s Cathedral in San Francisco.

Major speakers for the conference include Ruth Messinger, president of American Jewish World Service, Katherine Marshall, a senior advisor for the World Bank and executive director of World Faiths Development Dialogue, as well as a Religious Leaders Panel including Dr. Bonnie Anderson (President of the House of Deputies, Episcopal Church), Maha ElGenaidi (Director of ING), and Rev. Heng Sure (Director, Institute for World Religions). Alex Baumgarten, director of governmental relations for the Episcopal Church USA will offer analysis of current legislation pertaining to the Development Goals set by the United Nations:

• Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger.
• Achieve universal primary education.
• Promote gender equality and empower women.
• Reduce child mortality.
• Improve maternal health.
• Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases.
• Ensure environmental sustainability.
• Develop a global partnership for development.

The Conference is a catalytic convening of religious and interfaith leaders and activists for networking, education and advocacy towards the fulfillment of the UN Millennium Development Goals. There will be a special program track for Youth, and an opportunity for people to meet in regional groups to develop strategy and actions.

Members of the public are invited to a special Interfaith Prayer Service on Tuesday, April 20th, at 7:00 pm at St. Mary’s Cathedral, 1111 Gough St, San Francisco. There is no charge for this service.

The conference is sponsored by the Millennium Development Goals Coalition (MGDC) of the Bay Area, with the generous support of Catholic Healthcare West. More information and registration can be found on the MDGC website: www.imdgc.org/

The Barna Group, based in Ventura County, is an organization which does reputable work on trends in religious life in the US. Their perspective tends to the conservative Christian, and their responses to identifiable movements in the religious scene in America don’t often line up with my own, but I find their studies useful in assessing what’s going on in American religion.

They have released their end-of-year summary, and identified four basic trends in the past year:

1. Increasingly, Americans are more interested in faith and spirituality than in Christianity.
2. Faith in the American context is now individual and customized. Americans are comfortable with an altered spiritual experience as long as they can participate in the shaping of that faith experience.
3. Biblical literacy is neither a current reality nor a goal in the U.S.
4. Effective and periodic measurement of spirituality – conducted personally or through a church – is not common at this time and it is not likely to become common in the near future.

I think these are not far off the mark, but don’t share Barna’s distress, expressed in comments like:

Americans typically draw from a broad treasury of moral, spiritual and ethical sources of thought to concoct a uniquely personal brand of faith. Feeling freed from the boundaries established by the Christian faith, and immersed in a postmodern society which revels in participation, personal expression, satisfying relationships, and authentic experiences, we become our own unchallenged spiritual authorities, defining truth and reality as we see fit.

Consequently, more and more people are engaged in hybrid faiths, mixing elements from different historical eras and divergent theological perspectives,” Barna stated. “In some ways, we are creating the ultimate ecumenical movement, where nothing is deemed right or wrong, and all ideas, beliefs and practices are assigned equal validity. Everyone is invited to join the dialogue, enjoy the ride, and feel connected to a far-reaching community of believers. Screening or critiquing what that community believes is deemed rude and inappropriate. Pragmatism and relativism, rather than any sort of absolutism, has gained momentum.”

I suspect that to some extent, the move from “Christianity” to “faith and spirituality” is a reflection of the increasing religious diversity of our culture, and the recognition that there are, indeed, many different expressions of the religious impulse. As people become aware of other traditions, they find much that is admirable in those traditions, and may, in fact, adopt attitudes, rituals, or perspectives that are different from those they have previously been familiar with.

Every encounter we have changes us. Most of the time we are not aware of it, because sometimes the change simply reinforces our existing perspective or attitudes. But the more opportunity we have to encounter truly different ways of thinking and being, the more we are challenged to understand our own traditions more deeply, or else to critique or even change them.

A “pure” form of religious tradition can only be something that has been frozen in place- a tradition that is no longer living and engaged in the real world around. Religions change, because our experiences change, we change. Something is lost, and many may mourn its passing. But something is gained, as well, and that can be cause for rejoicing.

• Year in Review Perspective (The Barna Group)

…When it’s a war memorial.

Stephen Colbert comments irreverently on the strange arguments that were given in the Supreme Court concerning a cross on public land:

In a recent broadcast of Speaking of Faith on National Public Radio, host Krista Tippett interviewed a couple of young women from Los Angeles who have been taking a slightly different tack on interfaith dialogue.

Aziza Hasan is the Jordanian-born daughter of a Palestinian Muslim father and an American Christian Mother. Malka Haya Fenyvesi is a first-generation Jewish American whose parents survived World War II and the Holocaust.

In Los Angeles, Malka now directs interfaith programming at the Progressive Jewish Alliance and Aziza is with the Muslim Public Affairs Council there. Together, they created a program called NewGround: A Muslim-Jewish Partnership for Change.

They bring together young Jews and Muslims from all across society to talk honestly and openly about issues that challenge and divide them, without feeling that they have to resolve everything. As Malka says,

I think there’s always a bridge. The bridge is about understanding. I don’t think the bridge is about resolution. Part of what it means to do authentic dialogue work is that it’s messy in so many ways.

Part of this “messy” work involves learning how to engage in conflict in a positive way, a skill that many people have yet to master. Aziza notes that,

One of the biggest struggles we actually faced in terms of inside the circle of the program is also getting people to be honest and not necessarily polite. First we have to get them to be willing to engage in conflict in a positive and healthy way and then we have to try to get them to actually like say what’s really on their mind because after, you know, they start building these relationships, they get really excited. “Hey, we’re getting along, I really like this person,” and then they don’t want to hurt each other. What they don’t understand is that, you know, sometimes you have to be direct in order to really have a solid relationship, and it’s our job really to push them to that corner.

Together, they work to cultivate “curiosity over assumptions,” to allow people to discover what each other is feeling and thinking about the issues that face them every day.

Genuine appreciation for one another cannot be built on a foundation of dishonesty, even a dishonesty that overlooks painful issues so as not to offend one another. These young women and the work they are doing may well point the way to a deeper and more long-lasting interfaith reality.

• Curiosity over Assumptions Speaking of Faith, National Public Radio
  (podcast, transcript, and notes)

A special half-hour documentary titled “Religion, Politics, and Advocacy” made by CBS in conjunction with the Interfaith Broadcasting System will be aired on Sunday, September 27. Check your local listings for time.

“Religion, Politics & Advocacy” looks at the day in the life of a religious advocate — who they are, who they represent and how they lobby Congress on behalf of those who may not have a voice.

We hear from Sister Simone Campbell, advocate for the Catholic Social Justice lobby NETWORK; Dr. Sayid Syeed, a founder of the Islamic Society of North America; Andrew Genszler, Director of the Washington office of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; Brent Walker, Executive Director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty; and Rabbi David Saperstein, Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism.

The focus is not on legislation directly affecting the religious groups, but on how religious groups have organized and advocated on issues of broad community concern, such as regulating the tobacco industry and working to alleviate world hunger through Bread for the World.

It’s interesting to note that the groups featured in this program are all Abrahamic traditions. It might be that the producers chose to limit the spectrum of religious groups in order to fit it all into half an hour, or perhaps that these are the religious groups that have been around long enough to develop lobbying capabilities.

• Interfaith special on CBS features religion and advocacy
  National Council of Churches