In our modern world we are crammed with images fed through electronic media and it is often violence that has an immediate impact on us. Suspicion and fear flare up when individuals are seen committing insane acts of terrorism to carry out a dogmatic proof of a belief or set of ideologies. This always gives rise to an environment where conflict and unpredictability prevails. And images and iconography which we encounter do play up with emotions and feelings; they work by either creating a desire to express a message or simply to reveal the darker side of mankind.

There are many creative minds putting up their works on internet to prove that art has some healing potency to erase tensions and hatred culminating from intolerance and lack of spirituality. There are entire communities on Facebook and YouTube dedicated to creating digital works of art and imagery to show that art can be about peace and shunning aside differences. There are societies and communities set up solely to share pictures to prove that our planet earth is Eden-like despite the destruction of the forests and global warming. Some are producing works of the ethereal and celestial worlds to give a glimpse of the visual conception and the mysteriousness of the other reality. Some seek to transform spirituality as an attainment of non-violence and developing a love for a cosmic feeling of one-ness with the universe, which is why Buddha regularly appears in these images. With scores of posters, wall art, and sculptures dedicated to him, the Buddha has attained a Hollywood star status.

Whether all this is going to make everyone put aside differences, and especially set aside conflict between different faiths, is yet to be proven. But art can certainly quell growing doubts that we are unaware of the need to create bridges to fill the gaps arising from lack of knowledge about other faiths. Many charities working to promote interfaith dialogue are utilizing art as a tool to raise awareness about the cause. The Tony Blair Faith Foundation has created a filmmaking competition for youth are encouraged to show how faith inspires them.

Heaven on Earth Creations is another charity that makes documentaries on interfaith dialogue. Their recent documentary Globalized Soul was filmed all over the globe and describes the emergent universal spirituality that is transforming our world and thus forming a unity from the diversity that the human family generates through art, music and literature. This all could be an indication that we are interested in seeing religion not merely dominated by politics and scholarly debate, and that art is relevant for us to understand the controversies and issues we are facing in today’s world.

I set out to explore how three artists have used faith as a backdrop in their paintings. When humans practice ideologies and beliefs that preach a sense of exclusion, art has an essential transforming effect on those practices because it can be surreal and elusive.

Jane Monica Tvedt, a self-taught Norwegian artist, believes this transforming potential is possible; she says, "[Art] can make human beings think differently, and through paintings we can create thoughts that have never been there before."

Surprised by the scale of the tragedy in her home country, Tvedt has worked out a mission for herself to reach out to people through Facebook and give them a glimmer of the hope of unity and love. Her hazy and romantic paintings seem to have layers of emotions, some brimming with gayety and a celebration of life and others giving expression to more mystical thoughts. Ethereal and delicate characters float in circles and dots of colors. Certainly the viewer experiences a light feeling of being transformed into a nirvana of blissful scenery and people from her paintings. Tvedt draws inspiration from her readings of Quran, Bible, Hindu and Bhuddist scriptures.

If attainment of mystical power can be accomplished from the study of the Holy Scriptures, artist Faiza Shaikh has worked out another medium to reflect her inner thoughts about what faith should generate. She left Pakistan in the early eighties and has been based in London--a city brimming with diversity. Over the years, coming into contact with people belonging to different faiths has enriched Shaikh's own knowledge and outlook, and she likes to believe that her paintings are generating a message that all faiths essentially uphold the same moral principles. Her canvases include raw and bold colors schemes in rich patterns creating a baroquee tapestry. Amidst tension, the viewer finds drama infused with a lyrical vivacity that is neither too subtle nor too direct by use of  gold leaf  etched with the Holy texts that take centre place in her compositions.

Anoma Wijewardene’s work breathes a new meaning to human suffering and the desperate need for peace. She has been drawn to the strife between humans and the environment, between faiths and people. The political strife and civil war of her home country of Sri Lanka leaves haunting traces in the symbolism she creates. Wijewardene's work appears to be a place of the soul; she evoke a sense of divine inspiration and the beauty of form, which comes across in fossil-like figures and icicles of collages or cutout surfaces. In 2002, she showed a collection of her paintings in Delhi seeking to reflect the incidence of the destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas. It was her cumulative desire to create a tension in bringing together images from diverse faiths like Buddhism and Islam and so mirror the concept of irreconcilable differences which are only generated by human intolerance.

Modern art has become a global medium, but it is much more than merely an extension of an individual story from the painter. Many artists want to do away with borders and boundaries of intolerance and hate, and seek to share this message in their work.

What potential is there for inter-religious connections in your community?

The United States is one of the most religiously diverse countries in the world, and yet many individuals and congregations struggle with establishing authentic relationships with people of other religious traditions.

This course offers an opportunity to reflect on the potential for interreligious community in their own religious lives and relationships, and in their own communities, as well as to gather some practical skills and resources for this task.

A foundational conviction is that interreligious dialogue not only deepens the understanding and respect we have for other religious traditions, it can profoundly impact our understanding and experience of our own.

June 6 - July 22

Registration deadline: May 30. Cost $225; $175
for groups of 3 or more. 2 Continuing Education
Units available. Register here.

It's tempting to write year-end reflection pieces, or to predict what is to come. But I've become bored of these.

Year-end stories are designed to focus on the sensational, the harrowing, and the worst possible scenario. In just the past week, the former president of Shell Oil Company projected 5 dollar per gallon gas by the end of 2011. For those who really like to worry, try Gartner's picks for the coming year--sabotage, terrorism, labor jobs lost to more automation.

Pass the antacids, please.

So it shouldn't surprise ministers that Gallup picks this week to announce that religion's influence is waning. Nee, all but ready to fall off the face of the earth. 70 percent of Americans say religion's influence is declining--the highest percentage in 35 years.

So shall it be!

Or will it?

What is it that people are really telling us? That America is rushing headlong to the death of the American congregation? The truth is, it's hard to know what the Gallup survey is telling us. Perhaps Americans don't sense religion's influence in politics any longer, so they answer the Gallup question accordingly (and this could well be it).

Perhaps they listen to reports of declining membership and assume this foretells the beginning of the end for houses of worship. If this is the case, then the perception is quite wrong. While the recession has certainly hurt coffers, we have not witnessed the mass closings for houses of worship. Further, research out of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln demonstrates that church attendance levels are basically unchanged, even if the make up of those in the pews is changing significantly. (See also this CNN story.)

Those interested in pursuing ministry as a profession remain stable. Though down slightly from 2005, seminaries continue to attact individuals interested in pursuing pastoral ministry as a career.

Do respondees feel that religious discussion is waning? That, too, would be hard to sell. The demand for books about spirituality has never been higher, and publishers are looking to fill readers' desire for still more by recruiting scholars to write more books for the general market.

If the idea of congregations sliding into oblivion is greatly exaggerated, what is the influence that people feel is missing?

Unfortunately, we're not soothsayers here at Congregational Resource Guide. But I do have a hunch. This year's blockbuster religion book, American Grace (read the excellent synopsis by Tim Shapiro) has observed that what has happened to faith in America is that we have become more tolerant of other religious traditions, and more diverse in our practice. This radical restructuring of how we approach faith requires people to adjust, and think anew about faith. It may seem less influential today because we're in flux, but we're really just re-inventing.

And as the dust settles, it is to America's congregations that people will return (and in fact, already are) for clarity. My year end prediction is hardly sensational. The coming year is one of great promise, and great opporunity for America's congregational leaders.

You won't find this prediction on the being bantered on the daily talk shows, or splashed on the cover of Newsweek. But it is one that should give all of us great hope.

Happy New Year.

This article was originally published by the Alban Institute.

© Rick Nahmias/goldenstatesofgrace.com

(C) Rick Nahmias/goldenstatesofgrace.com

"What's going on in this picture?"

This was the seductively simple question posed to me when asked to respond on the included image. This picture comes from a collection of images, published together in the work Golden States of Grace: Prayers of the Disinherited by Rick Nahmias. I have not had the privilege of exploring the entirety of these images, the book, or to have viewed the project at an exhibition showing. This project tells the stories of 11 communities, and the ways in which they practice and live out their respective faiths. The common thread between the communities in this work is that they are groups on the margins of society. For various reasons, these groups have been cast aside, overlooked, or otherwise disregarded by the majority.

This image, “Yajahira With Her Altar”, represents a community of transgender sex workers who pray to La Santisima Muerta (Holy Death). This figure, like St. Jude, watches over those in risky professions, and these sex workers see Santisima Muerta as one who helps them avoid death on the streets by evoking her form, which is the symbolism of death. I found this image compelling for many reasons: the particular icon of Jesus Yajahira has on her altar; her posture as she sits and smokes; the look in her eyes as she stares at the icon; the composition of the photograph; the particular story of this woman, which I can only imagine; the power of her story and her beliefs that is invoked by this image.

What is going on here is a lot. The question is not simple, nor should it be.

Stories from the margins are often ignored or assumed as simplistic, and therefore not worth the attention of the rest of society. Yet my faith compels me to ask certain questions when faced with such images, stories or encounters: Whose voice is not being heard? Who is in need? How are they interpreting God’s message? Is my interpretation of that message making it impossible for me to see them, hear them, help them? Sitting with this image I think, how would I react to meeting someone with Yajahira’s story?  Would I react, or would I respond, after sitting with her, listening to her? Would I judge her, or otherwise compare myself to her? Would I think that my faith was in some way better of greater than hers, or less?

Nahmias’ work brings us into contact with stories of faith – stories of survival, stories of living, stories of the other, stories of our neighbors – and into contact with something greater than our selves.

As a person who has encountered a small piece of one of these stories, I am changed. And because I am changed, through this encounter, I must rethink my own faith.

© Rick Nahmias/goldenstatesofgrace.com

Rick Nahmias is a photographer inimitably willing to come into relationship with his subjects, so willing that his own work and spirit is irrecovably changed by the making and sharing of his art.

Golden States of Grace: Prayers of the Disinherited reveals startling portraits of worshippers, their landscapes, and their objects of worship, along with written prayers, oral histories and academic essays.

Yet, turning through the pages is more than merely examining beautiful photographs. It became clear to me within a few minutes with the book that the book itself revealed a community, an outpouring of spirit, and an accumulation of grace.

I had the opportunity to speak to Nahmias about his work, and I asked him to begin by talking about the project. With the goal of “capturing community,” he begins with meeting the individual in person, in their community, and presents the project and his portfolio.  In a sense, he is courting them as a co-participant, co-creator in the project. Nahmias shares,  “I had no qualms in saying—I need to be invited into the most sacred areas of your life.” He describes this process as, “A certain partnership of trust.--.”

I have never heard an artist or writer discuss his subject in a way that connotes equality on the part of the subject—it struck me that Nahmias was in a way giving up part of a perceived power in a willingness to come into relationship with his subjects. Nahmias said, “After that, my goal is just to remain open to what happens.” He continued,

“I have learned no project of mine can begin with anything but a blank canvas - It may seem like a given, but it is with great excitement I greet that, and more than a tinge of sadness when something solid begins to form, because it is then that all the other possibilities about what that project ‘Can Be’ then melt away. Thus, as exciting as it is, there is always this ambivalence as I move forward - and forms and ideas become clearer. But that is part of the process and must happen.

Now, being well-acquainted with the labyrinth one must maneuver when taking on a large scale photo project, film, anything with multiple moving parts, I am always amazed that things come together in the end. I feel very lucky to be able to go on these journeys and have the trust there will be something at the end - though I really don't want to know what that is till I get there.”

It seems to the viewer that there is a twinship here--just as the artist is committed to portraying his subjects with honesty, he seems honest about the possibility of himself being changed or affected by the work.  Neither leaves the project unchanged; each is forever affected by the other.  By ceding control to “the possible,” the art that is made is a charged space.

Nahmias continued, “…trusting ‘the unknowing’ of the creative process is something you cannot do without.  It's the alchemy, the way art is made.

That said, there have been plenty of times during a three day shoot, that after day one I sense I have nothing worthwhile and begin to sweat and see doubts materialize, which if I let them could take down a whole project quite easily.  Again though, even the intense doubt which also comes along with every project I have done - or will ever do - is all part of the journey.”

To the reader/viewer, the authentic fruit from the journey is powerful—Nahmias himself was struck with how powerful the prayers written by the subjects, and his own growth along the way. He said, “One thing I was struck with—how articulate the subjects were, [they gave a] great deal of thoughtfulness to the prayers.”

The prayers—making a new American prayer book—reflect a true and previously untapped spirituality. The voices Nahmias amplifies come from the margins—the margins of society as well as the margins of religious communities. I was troubled by my own reactions to some of these voices, and asked Nahmias about including potentially difficult subjects. He said that it is important to include the struggles of our brothers and sisters,“…even if it’s a struggle that is distasteful.” He notes that “Everyone pictured in this book shares something that you and I share: a genuine spiritual quest.”

Perhaps one reason I feel uncomfortable is because it is easier to live and pray in a world where things are right and wrong, good or bad, black or white. Nahmias identifies this element in his work, noting, “There’s so many shades of gray in there—that I hope we can all see something of ourselves in their struggle. Allow ourselves to live in the grey.”

He posits that we seem to have lost track of our connection with people who don’t look like us, worship like us, act as children of God like us.  He said, “We all have something marginalized within us whether we want to face or access that. This is a complete body of work – each part, each community, is intregal to the whole. You can’t throw out the works you don’t like. You can’t remove [photographs of a halfway house] because you don’t like addicts. What [the work] says is—put your judgment in check…it’s only about understanding, that each of these people, like you or I, can and must come to a deep personal understanding about their connection to a higher power.”

By creating a prayer book – and its companion multimedia exhibition which is now traveling - that includes these powerful calls to prayer for all of us (perhaps accentuating facets of God’s presence that we would otherwise miss), Nahmias gives us a way in. That is, I cannot resist entering that which draws me in, first by inviting my gaze, and then by inviting my voice, to share in prayer.

Late in the process of editing the book, having found himself drawn to particular phrases in the prayers, he began one last creative act. In ransom note style, or like a mosaic-maker, he literally cut up then positioned these resonant phrases on a table. Just as the writers of the prayers took their own time and spiritual energy to share their prayers, Nahmias allowed himself to enter a process of spiritual reflection and felt his way into creating the final prayer. The final prayer, which Nahmias calls “An American Prayer,” is made up completetly of the resonant phrases, the phrases from the prayers which acts as a connective tissue to the images, essays and stories throughout the book.

Within the book, Nahmias notes, “Images and prayers are contrasted and placed in their specific order for a specific reason of illustrating and broadening themes shared by different faiths and communities.” For the reader/viewer, paging through the book allows one to find images and text, to gaze or to pray, and to hear a circling of voices rise and fall.

Upon hearing Nahmias describe his willingness to enter into relationship with his subjects, the way he honors them by facilitating their own acts of co-creation, the way he reflected on the resonant phrases to create a new prayer---I noted that his actions sounded pastoral, and asked if he was religious. He demurred that he was not, and laughed when I said he sounded pastoral.  He said that he had not considered himself “religious,” but went on to describe the many experiences he has had, particularly in the creation (and now through delivering it through talks and presentations) of Golden States of Grace, which touched him and others, making him realize that something indeed religious was happening.

Nahmias talked about one of the strands of grace that ran through this project. He said, “I would say that grace comes through openness and compassion - it finds you and not the other way around - in that way, I feel incredibly lucky that the work turned out well, and from what I am told, reflects a number of themes I saw developing as I shot it.

My publisher, University of New Mexico Press, trusted me as the manuscript came together, and then as I guided the design and art direction in a very hands on way. They went along on this journey with me from the beginning – allowing us to adhere to the mantra-like three words that I planted in our heads at the start: reverent yet contemporary.”

Golden States of Grace closes with "An American Prayer;" the prayer begins with the line, "Take refuge, dear children, in the changes in your life."  It takes courage to be willing to enter a place of change, a place where one's values and hopes can be altered and change. When we hear the voice of another, and allow her experience to touch and change us, we are engaged in holy work--work truly gilded through with numinousness.

Too frequently in my religious life, I do what is commonplace and comfortable, allowing routine to numb me to the experiences and voices of my brothers and sisters. The images Nahmias reveals, and the voices he amplifies--through photograph and word, near icons of portrait and text--bring me to a close place of recognition and disequilibrium.  Gracefully, it is in such a place that prayer is most possible.

Atheists are leading the charge for interfaith cooperation. If that sounds contradictory, allow me to confirm: I just saw it with my own eyes.

Last weekend, more than 200 college students and 100 faculty and staff from across the United States converged in Washington, D.C. for five days of interfaith training. Students and campus staff participated in two consecutive Interfaith Leadership Institutes, planned and run by the Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC), where they received intensive training that prepared them to take the lead in a national movement for interfaith cooperation and social action.

The Interfaith Leadership Institutes, co-hosted by the Georgetown University Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs, consisted of a series of trainings, speeches and events intended to equip hundreds of student leaders and campus allies with the vision, knowledge and skills necessary to lead interfaith and community service initiatives on their campuses. The White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships hosted a session for each institute, and then participants spent two days at Georgetown being trained and equipped.

I was honored to join these students and their staff and faculty allies as a speaker and volunteer IFYC Alumni Coach for the institutes. I was amazed by the enthusiasm and compassion modeled by everyone I met, but as a secular humanist and interfaith activist, the number of nonreligious participants present is perhaps what excited me the most.

Lyz Liddell, Director of Campus Organizing at the Secular Student Alliance, was one of the student allies in attendance. Liddell believes the institutes were a watershed moment for nonreligious participation in the interfaith movement.

"This institute changed perspectives for both theists and nontheists," said Liddell. "Hearing repeated language specifically including nonbelievers -- such as 'people of all religions and no religion' -- made it clear that atheists and other secular worldviews are welcome and needed at the interfaith table. Likewise, having nontheists represented helped religious attendees really understand that nontheists want to be involved and are willing and eager to be included."

As an Alumni Coach, I am working with 20 other IFYC alumni to serve as mentors to the institutes' budding student leaders. One of the students I am mentoring is Michael Anderson, a junior at McKendree University. Anderson sees interfaith work as a pragmatic necessity. "We're all just human beings, and we have to come to a conclusion on how to live together," said Anderson.

Vlad Chituc, a junior at Yale University, was also there to learn more about interfaith leadership. Chituc was surprised and impressed by how welcoming the institute was to atheists and other nonreligious individuals. "I found that the entire conversation stemmed around people saying, 'We really want to include nonreligious people; how the hell do we do that?' Now I don't know why I was expecting the discussion to focus more on whether or not we should even be involved in the movement," Chituc said.

Chelsea Link, a junior at Harvard University, said that she believes that her humanist values require her to find common ground with religious people. "When I found humanism, I felt like many humanists and atheists were detached from religious communities, and many were antagonistic toward the religious," Link said. "Meanwhile, at interfaith events, I didn't see much of an invitation for atheists or humanists. The religious and nonreligious don't know how to deal with each other; I'd like to see more reaching out from both sides. We shouldn't be afraid of each other!"

Adam Garner, a senior at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, agreed with her. "I want to make the world a better place through service and I want to fight religious intolerance. The IFYC, and especially our Interfaith in Action group here on campus, allows me to accomplish both goals in one fell swoop."

I have been working for several years now as a secular humanist promoting interfaith and nonreligious understanding, so I was honored to receive an invitation to share my story and my message at a reception following the White House session, hosted by the El-Hibri Charitable Foundation in celebration of the launch of the Interfaith Leadership Institutes. Speaking before a group of policy and philanthropic professionals, I explained that there are many atheists, agnostics, humanists and other nonreligious individuals like Anderson, Chituc, Link, Garner, Liddell and others at the institutes who wish to seek understanding, respect and collaboration with their religious neighbors.

After my speech, I got the opportunity to talk with many of the policy and philanthropic professionals at the reception, and they affirmed my belief that the nonreligious are an essential asset in this movement.President Obama has spoken frequently of the role that the nonreligious play in American pluralism, so I was both pleased and unsurprised to hear that those involved in the current administration's efforts to ensure interfaith cooperation agreed.

The IFYC Interfaith Leadership Institutes proved that the interfaith movement has hit a critical mass. The student-led, national Better Together" campaign is at the forefront of an emerging societal shift toward inter-religious tolerance and cooperation. Including the nonreligious only strengthens these efforts. Atheists, agnostics, secular humanists and the like have a vital stake in ensuring that America's promise of pluralism is realized, and it is exhilarating to see more of us decide that collaboration is more important than division.

"Some of the best interfaith leaders I know are not people of faith, but their understanding of secular humanism inspires them to create bridges of cooperation between people from different backgrounds," said IFYC Founder and President Eboo Patel. "They recognize that religious tolerance is a 'public good,' which benefits everybody, including the nonreligious. They also recognize that perhaps the greatest interfaith divide in our society is between 'believers' and 'nonbelievers,' and that they have a special role to play in bridging that divide. And from what I have experienced myself, I believe that as well."

With more than 300 students and staff equipped to make interfaith cooperation through social action a reality on their campuses and in their communities, they now know that the nonreligious will be there working and engaging in dialogue alongside them for the public good.

When I first started doing interfaith work, I didn't see many other nonreligious people involved. Now we're impossible to miss.

Chris Stedman is the Managing Director of State of Formation, a new initiative at the Journal of Inter-Religious Dialogue. Chris received an MA in Religion from Meadville Lombard Theological School at the University of Chicago, for which he was awarded the Billings Prize for Most Outstanding Scholastic Achievement. A graduate of Augsburg College with a summa cum laude B.A. in Religion, Chris is the founder and author of the blog NonProphet Status. His writing has also appeared in venues such as The Washington Post On Faith, Tikkun Daily, The New Humanism, and more. Previously a Content Developer and Adjunct Trainer for the Interfaith Youth Core, Chris is a secular humanist working to foster positive and productive dialogue between faith communities and the nonreligious. He is currently writing a book on this topic and speaks on it regularly both by invitation and as a member of theSecular Student Alliance Speakers Bureau. Chris also serves on the Leadership Team of the Common Ground Campaign, a coalition of young people standing up in response to the recent wave of anti-Muslim rhetoric and violence in America. Portland, Oregon's GLBT newspaper Just Out called his work "brilliant" and labeled him an "emerging... vibrant and youthful queer voice for the secular humanist movement."

This fall, Jewish, Muslim, and Christian leaders from North America gathered at the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) to begin an unprecedented conversation.  On October 25 and 26, JTS, the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), and Hartford Seminary convened a workshop on “Judaism and Islam in America.”  Participants discussed the ways Jews and Muslims could learn from one another about the experience of religious minorities in the United States.  Although political questions affecting relations between Jews and Muslims worldwide helped form the background of the meetings, all present agreed that there was a more productive kind of discussion to be had—one that focused on how American Jews and Muslims could see one another as partners instead of enemies.

Arnold Eisen, Chancellor of JTS, and Ingrid Mattson, immediate past president of the Islamic Society of North America and professor at Hartford Seminary, organized the workshop with the goal of initiating honest exchanges about what Muslims and Jews in America share—as well as what they do not.  To this end, Eisen and Mattson decided to close the workshop to non-participants, limiting the group to twenty-five professors, religious educators, and presidents of seminaries. Eisen and Mattson wanted to ensure that people in the room felt comfortable speaking their minds with the reassurance and understanding that the conversation couldn’t be hijacked for personal political purposes by outsiders less committed to the work and dialogue. A number of participants noted how glad they were that Eisen and Mattson had created a space that was safe enough to bring all of the issues onto the table.  The intimate setting encouraged participants to bring up complicated and often difficult issues that too often get swept under the rug in other avenues of inter-religious dialogue.

In addition to the closed sessions, workshop participants attended a panel discussion held at JTS which was free and open to the public.  The roundtable included Chancellor Eisen, Professor Sherman Jackson, who teaches Islamic studies at the University of Michigan, and the Reverend Doctor Serene Jones, president of Union Theological Seminary; Mattson served as moderator.  Over five hundred people attended the event, and many more saw the webstream on the JTS website (www.jtsa.edu).  The audience included Muslims, Jews, and Christians ranging in age from college students to retirees.  The public event’s success testifies to the burning urgency of the question of Judaism and Islam’s future in America.

An important feature of this workshop was the commitment to starting a conversation, rather than arriving at solutions.  The hope was that honest conversations would open up possibilities for further cooperation, and that relationships begun in October 2010 would flourish into partnerships in the coming years.  The palpable excitement among participants during the concluding discussion around considering next steps suggested that Eisen and Mattson successfully planted seeds in fertile ground.

During the two days of sessions, discussion ranged from questions of law and scripture to gender and assimilation.  The workshop was divided into six panels including: the history of Judaism and Islam in America, interpretation of scripture, adaptation of law, assimilation and authenticity, Christian perspectives, and the education of Jewish and Muslim clergy in America.  Each panel was structured as a discussion; panelists gave short introductory remarks, after which the floor was open to all participants.  Although the organizers allotted an hour and a half to each topic, there was never enough time to finish the conversation or to even come close to exhausting the issues that had been raised.

The first panel sought to ground the workshop in a discussion of history that introduced the arc of Jewish and Muslim experiences in America.  In outlining the often very distinct evolutions of Islam and Judaism in America, a number of unexpected points of common interest arose.  Participants wondered together about the importance of Jewish and Muslim causes outside the United States in the formation of the American Jewish and Muslim communities.  Navigating the balance between investment in religious life at home versus solidarity with coreligionists abroad was one of the many challenges that Jews and Muslims had both faced (and continue to face) in America.

In subsequent panels, a number of issues arose repeatedly in different contexts.  Issues such as gender equality and women’s role in public religion proved to be common challenges for Jews and Muslims.  Jews discussed how questions of gender equality had caused deep divisions among Jews, resulting in significant differences among denominations.  Muslim scholars noted the challenges Muslim women faced in becoming accepted as religious authorities in America.  Even though there are few legal barriers to women’s assumption of religious authority in Islamic law—in fact, much less than in Jewish law—some Muslims said that many of the informal channels through which Muslim men acquired authority were closed to women.  Other Muslim participants disagreed with this analysis, however, arguing that the majority of American Muslims were open to accepting women as authority figures.

Related in many ways to the issues of gender was the question of assimilation into the surrounding American society and the fine line between “assimilation and authenticity,” as Eisen and Mattson put it.  A number of Jewish and Muslim participants voiced their strong desire to be part of American society, and yet expressed fears that doing so would mean losing touch with their religious and cultural beliefs.  Timur Yuskaev, professor and director of the Islamic Chaplaincy Program at Hartford Seminary, suggested that Muslims’ authenticity enabled their assimilation into American culture.  On the other hand, David Myers, professor of Jewish history at the University of California at Los Angeles, questioned whether such a thing as “authenticity” even existed in Judaism, an historically diaspora and minority religion that absorbed elements of whatever cultures Jews lived among.

One topic that ignited a fascinating conversation on the limits of assimilation—or acculturation, as many participants preferred to think about it—was the timely question of trick-or-treating on Halloween.  Was it a betrayal of Judaism or Islam to allow one’s children to trick-or-treat?  Sherman Jackson mentioned the difference between whether an American custom like trick-or-treating was technically allowed under religious law, and whether one would actually allow one’s children to take part in such a custom.  Riv-Ellen Prell, professor of Jewish studies at the University of Minnesota, noted that the topic of assimilation and authenticity was rich enough to merit a conference of its own and suggested such a meeting as a way to continue the conversation in the future.

Although the workshop focused on Judaism and Islam in America, Eisen and Mattson made sure to include the voices of Christian leaders with long experience of inter-religious dialogue.  In addition to Serene Jones, Heidi Hadsell, president of Hartford Seminary (a co-sponsor of the workshop), and Katharine Henderson, president of Auburn Seminary, joined the workshop and provided insight into the role of Christians in facilitating Jewish and Muslim cooperation.  Hadsell noted the importance of Christians working within the Christian community to promote the importance of inter-religious dialogue, something which often involved helping the majority religion to “see” non-Christians in the first place.  Echoing Hadsell’s call, Henderson described the need for a “conversion to multi-faith.”

Something that Jewish and Muslim participants reached consensus on early in the workshop was the fact that it was impossible to talk about Judaism and Islam in America as if each religious community were a monolith.  Rather, American Jews and Muslims came from a wide range of cultural, social and religious backgrounds, and these differences had to be taken into account in discussions about convergences and divergences of Jewish and Muslim experiences.  One of the topics that arose in the concluding conversation asked participants to consider who had been left out of this dialogue, and how those voices could be included in the future.  Participants seemed to agree that they came from a relatively narrow range of viewpoints—since they were all interested in dialogue in the first place—and that this was a good place to start the conversation.

In the concluding discussion, participants suggested ways in which they could build on the foundation laid at JTS.  One suggestion for practical cooperation between Muslims, Jews, and Christians addressed issues raised during the last panel on education.  Safaa Zarzour, the secretary general of ISNA, emphasized the need for founding an Islamic seminary in America.  Zarzour and others expressed how helpful it would be to talk to Jewish and Christian leaders of seminaries as preliminary plans for a Muslim seminary were laid.  Eisen emphasized that such a conversation would equally helpful for Jewish seminaries, noting how much he had already learned from hearing about the experience of Muslim educators in North America.

Another idea about how to continue the conversation was to hold a conference on contemporary interpretation of Jewish Law and Islamic Law.  Jonathan Brown, professor of Islamic studies at Georgetown University, noted how much Jews and Muslims in America had in common when faced with adapting their respective legal systems to modern phenomena.  He proposed a topic of mutual concern, such as bio-ethics, around which Jewish and Muslim legal scholars could discuss the process of contemporary legal interpretation.

Other participants suggested how helpful it would be for Jewish and Muslim clergy and educators of clergy to meet on a more regular basis to talk about the challenges of shaping the next generation of religious leaders.  Benjamin Sommer, professor of Bible at JTS, noted that the opportunity to spend longer periods of time with clergy and educators of the other faith would enable the development of deeper ties across religions.  A number of participants echoed Sommer and expressed their interest in having more time to engage with one another as partners committed to a number of shared goals.

Perhaps the most unusual element of the workshop was the spirit of excitement and openness which reigned from the first moment to the last.  Participants repeatedly remarked on how different this workshop was from others they had attended; most said they had learned an enormous amount, and that the workshop had made them hungry for more.  The palpable excitement in the room reflected the urgency of these issues.  Faced with increasing hostility between Jews and Muslims not only in America but in the world, the organizers and participants affirmed how crucial it was to build alliances across religious lines.  All present expressed the hope that the energy and cooperative spirit of the workshop will translate into a continuation and deepening of the conversations started there.  If the discussions about next steps are any indication, this workshop was truly just the beginning.

As many participants put it: God willing, in sha’ Allah, b-ezrat Hashem.

Photos: The Jewish Theological Seminary