Byzantine Mosaics: Interfaith Experiences In Istanbul, Turkey

January 10, 2013 bcicirel Catholicism, Christianity, DePaul Interfaith Programs, DePaul University, Diversity, Peace, Prayer/Reflection/Meditation, Service, United States

(Photograph taken by Caelin Niehoff at Church of Theotokos Pammakaristos; Fethiye Mosque)

There is something inherently interreligious when a Roman Catholic finds herself under the dome of a 15^th century Ottoman Mosque. There is something even more rousing when she studies Orthodox Christian mosaics IN a mosque just down the street from the first right down the street from the first mosque.

During the 2012 DePaul December intercession winter break, I had the opportunity to study abroad in Istanbul, Turkey. As a DePaul interfaith scholar, I was particularly interested in the city’s rich and multifaceted religious history. When one thinks about the city’s religious identity crusades, conquests, and conflict might initially come to mind. Given these stigmatisms I thought that the destruction of religious buildings would have been inevitable. I was surprised to learn that many Byzantine churches were not destroyed, but rather repurposed and preserved by the Ottomans after their conquest of Constantinople.

The only Byzantine churches of Istanbul that were not converted into mosques are St. Mary of the Mongols and Hagia Eirene. This means that many Turkish Muslims pray in structures initially built as Orthodox Christian churches. The Latin’s had, similarly, occupied Byzantine churches as Roman Catholics after the crusades.

Time has worn the exteriors of these mosques to expose their original Byzantine brick work: a beautiful yet skeletal façade. Hidden on the inside of several of these mosques is the vibrant glow of gold and precious gems constructed into elaborate mosaic icons.

How can this be? In the tradition of Islam the human figure is not to be portrayed in art. The Ottomans had decided to simply cover and plaster over these images. Subsequently, Muslims preserved over six hundred years-old of ancient Orthodox Christian mosaics and Latin Roman Catholic frescos.

The Church of Saint Savior in Chora and the church of Theotokos Pammakaristo show cases the exquisite mosaic masterpieces preserved by 15^th century Ottomans. While Chora was once a mosque, it is now a museum. Pammakaristo, however, is still home to the Fethiye mosque. While observing the mosaics I admired the reality and privilege to witness this expression of religion through art: craftsmanship preserved in gold and fastened with the remnants of ancient, interreligious conscious. Yet in the present, I could feel the negotiation of space and the clear establishment of religious boundaries. The chapel hallway of mosaics accessible to the public was distinctly separated from the mosque itself. The exposition of these Byzantine mosaics not only reflected an interreligious encounter hundreds of years old, but also brought to light interreligious engagement (or perhaps lack thereof) in the present.

After entering the Chora museum, a fellow student asked our Turkish Armenian, Christian tour guide, “Do you wish that they hadn’t converted the churches into mosques?” He replied with a smile, “I believe that where there is life and light in a place of worship, it will breathe. It will live and it will last”. I think that admits the chaos that often comes with transitions of peoples and political powers, faith endures in creative and nuanced forms; giving life to the spiritual thirsts of each passing time period.

By: Caelin Niehoff

The Realities of El Salvador

January 10, 2013 bcicirel DePaul University, Diversity, Prayer/Reflection/Meditation, Service, United States

During the long winter break at DePaul, I took the opportunity to participate on a ten day service trip to El Salvador. These service trips are offered through University Ministry at DePaul and I went with fourteen other individuals.

El Salvador is a country located in Central America; it is filled with rich culture, history and great food! Its revolution lasted around ten years and during that time there were lots of missing people, lots of murders and lots of evil things going on. My group and I learned the realities of El Salvador. There were lots of massacres that occurred during the war, but the famous one is El Mozote. El Mozote happened on December 11, 1981 and nearly a thousand people were massacred, most being children. My group and I stood in the land where this happened. We went to many historical places in the country, but El Mozote really stuck with me.

Many Salvadorians have disappeared, some have been tortured and others have been killed because they are accused of being part of the guerillas. Where is God in the country? Oscar Romero, the archbishop of El Salvador was a timid man who slowly became the voice of the voiceless people. He became a strong figure who fought for justice. Unfortunately, Romero was assassinated in 1980 while he was celebrating mass. His death changed the people of the country; Romero quickly became symbolic because of his hard work and dedication to the common people, especially the poor. His legacy remains alive within the people and he is not forgotten.

After all the damage and suffering the people of El Salvador have gone through, they still smile. The people there are beyond amazing; they are very hospitable and welcomed everyone with open arms. They are glad and eager to share their story and experiences. They are letting their voices be heard. I see hope in the people. The youth of the country can make a different, it may sound cliché, but it’s true. As a Vincentian in Action, I come back home with a new perspective. I come back with lots of knowledge and stories to share with others. I will remain in solidarity with the people in El Salvador.

A part of me stayed in El Salvador. I had an incredible and unforgettable experience there and I will return – I promise.

By: Laura E. Mena

(If you are interested in participating or learning more about service immersion trips, please email Joyana Jacoby at jjacoby@depaul.edu.)

Faith on the Hill: The Religious Diversity of the 113th Congress – Pew Forum on Religion

November 30, 2012 bcicirel Atheism, Buddhism, Catholicism, Christianity, Diversity, Global Interfaith Movement, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Uncategorized, United States 2012, Congress, Faith, Government, interfaith, Religions, Unity

Faith on the Hill: The Religious Diversity of the 113th Congress – Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life

ANALYSIS November 16, 2012

The newly elected, 113th Congress includes the first Buddhist to serve in the Senate, the first Hindu to serve in either chamber and the first member of Congress to describe her religion as “none,” continuing a gradual increase in religious diversity that mirrors trends in the country as a whole. While Congress remains majority Protestant, the institution is far less so today than it was 50 years ago, when nearly three-quarters of the members belonged to Protestant denominations.

Catholics have seen the biggest gains among the 530 seats in the new Congress that have been decided as of Nov. 16. So far, Catholics have picked up five seats, for a total of 161, raising their share to just over 30%.¹ The biggest decline is among Jews, who have been elected to 32 seats (6%), seven fewer than in the 112th Congress, where Jews held 39 seats (7%).² Mormons continue to hold 15 seats (about 3%), the same as in the previous Congress.

Protestants also appear likely to continue to occupy about the same proportion of seats (56%) as in the 112th Congress (57%). In addition, the Protestant share of each political party in the new Congress is about the same as in the 112th; roughly seven-in-ten Republicans are Protestants, compared with fewer than half of Democrats. However, the members elected for the first time in 2012 are less Protestant than the group first elected in 2010; 48% are Protestant, compared with 59% of those elected for the first time in 2010.

Protestants, Catholics and Jews each make up a greater percentage of the members of Congress than of all U.S. adults. The same is true for some sub-groups of Protestants, such as Episcopalians and Presbyterians. By contrast, Pentecostals are a much smaller percentage of Congress than of the general public. Due in part to electoral gains in recent years, Buddhists, Muslims and Hindus now are represented in Congress in closer proportion to their numbers in the U.S. adult population. But some small religious groups, such as Jehovah’s Witnesses, are not represented at all in Congress.

Perhaps the greatest disparity, however, is between the percentage of U.S. adults and the percentage of members of Congress who do not identify with any particular religion. About one-in-five U.S. adults describe themselves as atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular” – a group sometimes collectively called the “nones.” But only one member of the new Congress, Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), is religiously unaffiliated, according to information gathered by CQ Roll Call. Sinema is the first member of Congress to publicly describe her religion as “none,” though 10 other members of the 113th Congress (about 2%) do not specify a religious affiliation, up from six members (about 1%) of the previous Congress.³ This is about the same as the percentage of U.S. adults in Pew Research Center surveys who say that they don’t know, or refuse to specify, their faith (about 2%).

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These are some of the findings from a new analysis by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life of congressional data compiled primarily by CQ Roll Call. The analysis compares the religious affiliations of members of the new Congress with Pew Research Center survey data on the U.S. public. CQ Roll Call gathered information on the religious affiliations of members of Congress through questionnaires and follow-up phone calls to members’ and candidates’ offices, and the Pew Forum supplemented this with additional research.

The religious diversity of the 113th congress

Congress’ First Hindu and Other Firsts

In January 2013, when the 113th Congress is sworn in, Hawaii Democrat Tulsi Gabbard will become the first Hindu in either the House of Representatives or the Senate.⁴ Gabbard, an Iraq War veteran who has served on the Honolulu City Council and in the Hawaii state legislature, will represent Hawaii’s 2nd congressional district. Gabbard will take over the seat held in the 112th Congress by Rep. Mazie K. Hirono (D), who on Nov. 6 became the first Buddhist elected to the Senate.

In 2006, Hirono and Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) became the first Buddhists to be elected to the House. Four years later, they were joined by a third Buddhist member, Colleen Hanabusa (D-Hawaii). Johnson and Hanabusa were re-elected to serve in the 113th Congress.

The first Muslim to serve in either the House or the Senate, Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), was elected in 2006. Rep. Andre Carson (D-Ind.) became the second Muslim in Congress when he won a special election in 2008. In 2012, Michigan Democrat Syed Taj lost his bid to become the third Muslim member of Congress. Ellison and Carson were re-elected.

Members of other small religious groups started serving in Congress more than a century ago. The first Jewish member arrived in 1845, when Lewis Charles Levin of the American Party began representing Pennsylvania in the House. The first Mormon in Congress, John Milton Bernhisel, began serving in 1851, after Utah was officially recognized as a territory. California Democrat Dalip Singh Saund, the first and so far only Sikh to serve in Congress, served three terms starting in 1957.

Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif.), a Unitarian who joined Congress in 1973, became the first member of Congress to publicly declare, in 2007, that he does not believe in a Supreme Being. He lost his re-election bid in 2012.

The New, 113th Congress

Of the 530 members of the new Congress whose races have been decided as of Nov. 16, 299 are Protestant, which is about the same percentage (56%) as in the 112th Congress (57%) and higher than the share of Protestants in the U.S. adult population (48%). But the proportion of Protestants in Congress has been in gradual decline for decades, and the number elected this year may end up being lower than the number in the previous Congress (307), even if the difference in percentage terms is slight.

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There have been modest changes in congressional representation within Protestant denominational families. Most notably, in the new Congress the number of Baptists has increased by six and the number of Methodists has decreased by four. Nonetheless, these two groups remain the largest Protestant sub-groups, as in the 112th Congress. The percentage of Methodists is slightly higher in Congress (about 9%) than in the general public (around 6%); the reverse is true for Baptists (14% of Congress and roughly 17% of all adults). The next-largest Protestant groups are Presbyterians and Episcopalians; both are more than five percentage points more numerous in Congress than among the general population.⁵

Protestants who do not specify a particular denomination (58 members) also comprise a large proportion of Congress (11%). It is unclear what percentage of these unspecified Protestants are affiliated with nondenominational churches; just three members of the 113th Congress specify that they belong to nondenominational Protestant churches.

Meanwhile, the number of Catholics in the 113th Congress has risen to 161 (as of Nov. 16), up from 156 in the previously elected body. If Protestants are not counted together but as separate denominations, then Catholics are the largest religious group in the 113th Congress. They represent more than 30% of the members in the 113th, compared with 29% in the previous Congress. About a fifth of the U.S. adult population (22%) is Catholic.

The number of Jewish members of Congress decreased from 39 to 32. There are 10 Jewish senators and 22 Jewish members of the House of Representatives in the 113th Congress. Jews now make up 6% of Congress (down from 7% in the 112th Congress). But this is still about three times the Jewish share of the general population (2%).

The number of Mormons in the 113th Congress (15) is the same as in the 112th, and they are about as prevalent in Congress (almost 3%) as in the public at large (2%).

As previously mentioned, some other small religious groups are about as numerically well-represented on Capitol Hill as in the general population. Muslims account for less than 1% of the U.S. adult population and make up 0.4% of Congress. Similarly, Buddhists and Hindus (also less than 1% of the U.S. adult population) make up 0.6% and 0.2% of Congress, respectively. Orthodox Christians also make up less than 1% of U.S. adults and comprise 0.9% of Congress. There are no Jehovah’s Witnesses in Congress; the group has a relatively small presence (less than 1%) in the U.S. population as a whole.

Differences by Chamber

Several religious groups are represented in roughly equal proportions in both houses of Congress, including Methodists (9% in each) and Lutherans (4% in the House, 5% in the Senate).

However, a few religious groups continue to have lopsided representation in one chamber or the other. For example, Jews make up 10% of the new Senate but 5% of the House. Likewise, Mormons make up 7% of the Senate and 2% of the House. Presbyterians make up more than twice as much of the Senate as the House (16% vs. 6%). The share of Baptists, by contrast, is greater in the House (15%) than in the Senate (9%), as is the percentage of Episcopalians (8% vs. 4%).

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Differences by Party Affiliation

Overall, 48% of the members of the new Congress are Democrats, and 52% are Republicans.

Looking at the partisan breakdown of the various religious groups, Lutherans are divided 50%-50% between the parties. The other sizable Protestant groups (Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians and Episcopalians) – as well as Protestants as a whole – have more Republicans than Democrats. The same is true for Mormons; 12 of the 15 Mormon members of the new Congress are Republicans. Catholics are slightly tilted toward the Democrats (57%-43%). Jewish members are mostly Democratic (97%); in fact, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor is the only Jewish Republican in Congress. The other non-Christian groups (Buddhists, Muslims and Hindus) are comprised exclusively of Democrats. All the members of Congress who did not specify a religion are also Democrats.

Looking at the religious breakdown of the political parties, 69% of congressional Republicans are Protestant, while fewer than half of Democrats (43%) belong to Protestant denominational families. (This includes newly elected independent Angus King of Maine, who has said he will caucus with Senate Democrats.) On the other hand, Catholics make up a greater share of Democratic members (36%) than they do of GOP members (25%). And while Jews make up 12% of all congressional Democrats (including one independent who generally caucuses with the Democrats, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont), they account for less than 1% of congressional Republicans.

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First-Time Members

The 81 members who were elected for the first time in 2012 are less Protestant than the 112 first-time members elected in 2010. In the 112th Congress, about six-in-ten members of the congressional freshman class were Protestant (59%), but that figure dipped to less than 50% in the most recent election. The percentage of freshman members who are Baptist and Presbyterian also decreased (from 16% to 10% for Baptists and from 8% to 4% for Presbyterians).

Catholics comprise a higher percentage of first-time members (37%) than of incumbent members (29%). Likewise, unspecified Protestants make up a greater percentage of freshman members (19%) than of incumbents (10%).

The reverse is true for most other groups. About 3% of the first-time members are Jewish, compared with 7% of incumbents. Presbyterians also make up a somewhat larger share of incumbents (9%) than of freshman members (4%). Otherwise, there are relatively small differences in religious affiliation between first-time and incumbent members.

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Looking Back

In many ways, the changes in the religious makeup of Congress during the last half-century mirror broader changes in American society. Congress, like the nation as a whole, has become much less Protestant and more religiously diverse. The number of Protestants in Congress has dropped from three-quarters (75%) in 1961 to 56% today, which roughly tracks with broader religious demographic trends during this period. As recently as the 1980s, General Social Surveys found that about six-in-ten Americans identified themselves as Protestants. In aggregated surveys conducted by the Pew Research Center in 2012 and reported in the Pew Forum’s October 2012 report “‘Nones’ on the Rise,” the share of self-identified Protestants has dipped to just under half (48%).

Likewise, many of the major Protestant denominational families have lost ground in Congress in the past 50 years. Methodists, who made up nearly one-in-five members (18%) of the 87th Congress, which was seated in 1961, make up 9% of the 113th Congress. Some other Protestant denominational families also have seen a decline in their numerical representation in Congress. For example, Episcopalians have gone from 12% to 7% and Congregationalists from 5% to less than 1% during this period.

A few Protestant groups have fared somewhat better, however. From 1961 to today, the proportion of Baptists in Congress has increased slightly from 12% to 14%, and the Lutheran share has stayed roughly the same (around 4%).

Meanwhile, other religious groups have seen their share of congressional seats grow, in some cases dramatically. Catholics, for instance, have gone from 19% of the congressional membership in 1961 to 30% today. The percentage of Jewish members of Congress has risen from 2% in 1961 to 6% today.

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View a PDF listing the religious affiliation of each member of the 113th Congress.

This analysis was written by Tracy Miller, Editor, Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life.

Footnotes:

1 This analysis is based on the 530 races that have been called as of Nov. 16, 2012. It excludes four races in which votes are still being counted (Ariz.-02, Calif.-52, Fla.-18 and N.C.-07) as well as the race in Louisiana’s 3rd district, which will be decided in a Dec. 3 runoff. All the candidates in these races are either Protestant or Catholic. Because each additional seat represents just 0.2% of the full Congress, the percentage totals for Protestants and Catholics are unlikely to shift by more than one percentage point. (return to text)

2 The Jewish figures appear to be final because there are no Jewish candidates in the five races that have yet to be determined. (return to text)

3 Tammy Baldwin, a Democratic congresswoman from Wisconsin who was elected to the Senate in 2012, was described in a recent New York Times article as someone who “does not discuss her religiosity.” In response to queries from CQ Roll Call, Baldwin’s office has described her religion as “unspecified,” and she is included in this analysis among the 10 members who did not specify a religion. If, instead, Baldwin were counted with Sinema as unaffiliated (or “none”), they would comprise about 0.4% of the new Congress. This would still be well below the nearly 20% of all U.S. adults who say they are unaffiliated, based on aggregated data from surveys conducted by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press in 2012 and reported in the Pew Forum’s October 2012 report, “‘Nones’ on the Rise.” (return to text)

4 Ami Bera, who was elected for the first time in 2012 to represent California’s 7th congressional district, was raised Hindu but now identifies as a Unitarian Universalist. He will be the only Unitarian Universalist in the 113th Congress. (return to text)

5 This analysis counts Christian Scientists as a Protestant denominational family in both the 112th and 113th Congresses because that is how they are counted in the Pew Research Center figures used for the general public. In previous Pew Forum analyses of the religious affiliations of the members of Congress, Christian Scientists were categorized as “Other Christians” because that is how they were counted in the general public numbers at that time.(return to text)

Photo Credit: © Wes Thompson/Corbis

THE PEW FORUM ON RELIGION AND PUBLIC LIFE

Standing In Unity Against Violence

November 17, 2012March 27, 2020 bcicirel DePaul Interfaith Programs, DePaul University, Dialogue, Engaging Nature in Spirituality, Global Interfaith Movement, Peace, Prayer/Reflection/Meditation, Seeds of Mission, Social Justice, United States 2012, Faith, Prayer, reflection, Unity, vigil, Violence

As winds blew through the Chicago skyline on Wednesday the 18^th of September, a group of student leaders from the United Muslims Moving Ahead DePaul University on-campus organization decided to hold a candle-light vigil. The vigil was a call for students and faculty to stand together in unity against violence occurring all over the world. During the Unity Vigil the students gave their respects to the United States Ambassador Christopher Stevens who was serving in the US embassy in Libya. We came together on an evening to condemn the violent protests that erupted as a result of the movie “Innocence of Muslims” which meant to insult the Prophet Mohammed (Peace and Blessings Be Upon Him). We also stood together against violence happening within the Syrian Crisis, the daily shootings in Chicago’s neighborhoods, and anywhere else across the world.

As an Interfaith Scholar, there was nothing more meaningful that night than to be supported by faculty members and students representing diverse faith and spiritual backgrounds standing shoulder-to-shoulder in unity against violence. The importance and significance for us all to experience and share each other’s feelings about certain on-goings around the world is something that this world needs more of. But to then take it a step further by building a support system, and embracing one another in a time that calls us to do so, is hopefully an eternal bond that each one of us can use.

The Muslim Chaplain at DePaul Abdul-Malik Ryan, reached out to the DePaul community through an email inviting his colleagues and students to attend the vigil, “In light of the continued violence here in Chicago and around the world, and especially the violence that is being presented as a motivation of ‘religious faith,’ the students want to make a strong statement that the DePaul community, and especially people of all faiths here at DePaul stand united against violence and as witnesses for peace and justice.” Chaplain Abdul-Malik stressed the fact that Islam as a religion condemns violence and prohibits the killing of innocent people.

Another member that is dear to the DePaul community and a representative from the University Ministry Office and Assistant Chaplain of the Office of Religious Diversity, Katie Brick shared a piece from the Superior General Gregory Gay, who wrote about Vincentian non-violence. Chaplain Brick read out a few quotes in which General Gray characterized non-violence as though it should be used as a means of “creating harmony based on diversity, rather than using diversity as a justification for violence.” This phrase stood out to me personally because it embraced the theme of unity – the purpose and reason to why we were all standing together.

On September 25^th, President Barack Obama spoke to the United Nations General Assembly stating, “We have taken these positions because we believe that freedom and self-determination are not unique to one culture. These are not simply American values or Western values – they are universal values.” Standing together as a strong and diverse DePaul community acknowledging the pain and creating a safe space that creates the chance for all of us to embrace one another, and to share our experiences with one another.

Our shared presence at the Unity Vigil affirmed to me and to the rest of the DePaul Community that brotherhood and sisterhood exists in a diverse form on campus. The Unity Vigil was also a way for the DePaul community to spread awareness about the violence going on in the world. And as I write this blog post I can’t help but sing the words of the song written by India Arie, “There’s hope, it doesn’t cost a thing to smile, you don’t have to pay to laugh, you better thank God for that.”

Dana Jabri ’15

Universities Welcome Muslim Students Through Interfaith Efforts

November 14, 2012March 27, 2020 bcicirel Catholicism, Christianity, DePaul Interfaith Programs, DePaul University, Dialogue, Global Interfaith Movement, Islam, Peace, Prayer/Reflection/Meditation, Seeds of Mission, Service, Social Justice, Uncategorized, United States Campus, interfaith, Interfaith scholars, muslim, Unity

New York University students, faculty, and clergy gather at the Kimmel Center on the NYU campus to discuss the discovery of surveillance by the New York Police Department on Muslim communities.

By Aaron Shapiro | November 13, 2012

Many American universities—both religious and secular—have recently launched efforts to accommodate and encourage religious diversity on their campuses. Universities are fosteringthis diversity and strengthening interfaith respect and cooperation to better serve their students and to counter rising incidences of xenophobia and other prejudices. Colleges are taking particularly active steps to welcome Muslim students, who too often face discrimination and prejudice because of their faith.

The number of Muslim students enrolled at Catholic universities has reportedly doubled over the past decade. In fact, according to the Higher Education Research Institute, the percentage of Muslim students at Catholic universities is higher than at “the average four-year institution in the United States.” Many may assume this influx of the religious “other” might generate tension, and that has indeed been the case on some campuses. But while much attention has been paid to instances of conflict and discord, the firsthand experience of many students suggests that, theological differences aside, having a religious identity of any kind can serve as a point of commonality for many students.

Muslims thrive on interfaith campuses

Many Muslim students are in fact choosing to enroll at Catholic universities precisely because of the religious—albeit non-Muslim—student body. Maha Haroon, a Muslim student at Jesuit Creighton University, said, “I like the fact that there’s faith, even if it’s not my faith, and I feel my faith is respected.”

Similarly, many Muslim students express a sense of belonging at these institutions because they are surrounded by other people of faith. Beyond merely co-existing, Muslim students are finding their fellow classmates to be welcoming faith partners. Mai Alhamad, a Muslim student at the University of Dayton, told The New York Times that he finds comfort in these efforts, saying, “Here, people are more religious, even if they’re not Muslim, and I am comfortable with that.”

So, too, is Dana Jabri, a sophomore at the Catholic DePaul University. Unsettled by the recent killing of four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens, in Libya and the violent demonstrations that subsequently spread across the Middle East, Jabri felt compelled to organize her fellow students to respond to the violence.

“We needed to come together and just share a moment of silence,” Jabri said in a recent interview with the Center for American Progress.

She worked quickly to organize a vigil on campus protesting violence around the world. About 40 students and faculty from a variety of faiths attended the event and Jewish, Christian, and Muslim chaplains shared their thoughts and prayers. As she recalled the vigil, Jabri said that it felt like a meaningful achievement to simply be able “to stand shoulder to shoulder in a circle, recognizing that it is important for all of us to come together, no matter our faith backgrounds, against this violence.”

As a Muslim and a religious minority at a Catholic university, Jabri has thrived on campus. Jabri is one of DePaul’s seven interfaith scholars—a group of student leaders, each hailing from a different religious tradition, who work with each other and their respective religious communities to cultivate a robust interfaith community on campus.

This kind of engagement extends beyond Roman Catholic universities. Many Muslim students, for instance, are finding common ground with their classmates at Brigham Young University’s Salt Lake City, Utah campus which is “supported, and guided by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints” and where 98.5 percent of all students are Mormon. The values promoted in the BYU Honor Code include “shun[ing] alcohol, illicit drugs and pre-marital sex,” and areimportant in the Muslim faith. These and other similarities have created a sense of solidarity among Muslim and Mormon students, leading Muslim student Sameer Ahmad to conclude that “[Mormons and Muslims] emphasize the same teachings, the same set of beliefs, even though the way of participating [is different].”

In the course of living and studying together, many students at BYU have discovered that their faiths can bring them together instead of pushing them apart. Andrew Moulton, a Mormon who lives with a Muslim classmate, told the Deseret News that, “I didn’t know that our cultures were so similar.”

But it is not just friendships or a sense of belonging that is prompting this increase in Muslim students at non-Muslim religious universities. Brigham Young University is taking concrete steps to create a more welcoming environment for its Muslim students. Each Friday, for example, the university sets aside a room in the student center where its Muslim students can gather for prayers.

Other religiously affiliated universities are making similar efforts to ease Muslim students’ adjustment to campus life. In early October of this year, Gannon University, a Catholic university in Erie, Pennsylvania, completed construction of a new “Interfaith Prayer Space,” where students from all faiths are able to pray and study in accordance with their religious traditions. In another expression of the school’s commitment to engage its Muslim population and improve its interfaith activities, during the ceremony dedicating the new space, Rev. Michael Kesicki read from the Bible and a Muslim student read a passage from the Qur’an.

Many other universities are developing programs and policies that are designed to make Muslim students feel more welcome, as well:

Benedictine University in Lisle, Illinois, where 15 percent of the students identify as Muslim, compared to the average 1.3 percent of students at four-year colleges,established dedicated prayer rooms for Muslim students and launched an “Interreligious Dialogue” program, inviting students from different faiths to discuss a wide range of issues, including anti-Muslim sentiment.
Georgetown University, in addition to reserving space for daily Muslim prayers, employs Imam Yahya Hendi as a university chaplain in its multifaith Campus Ministry in Washington, D.C.
American University, which is affiliated with the Methodist Church, actively engages Muslim students through its Kay Spiritual Life Center in the nation’s capital and its Muslim Chaplain Imad-ad-Dean Ahmad.

By taking actions that express concern and sensitivity toward students of all faith traditions, these universities have demonstrated a commitment to bridging the river of religious differences and countering the idea that religious diversity inevitably breeds discord. Other universities that have yet to take action ought to note the successes of these programs at both religious and secular institutions—most notably the one fostered by non-religiously affiliated New York University.

New York University as a secular model for interfaith community-building

Well-known interfaith activist Eboo Patel once noted that interfaith work on religious campuses is often successful because it “fits in the category of faith language and fits in the category of diversity. It’s just a different dimension.” As shown above, creating interfaith communities on religiously affiliated campuses is a fairly straightforward task since many religions have similar views on lifestyle choices, even if the specific tenets of each faith are very different.

Building interfaith communities at secular universities among a religiously diverse student body therefore poses a distinct challenge. Nonetheless, several secular universities are leading efforts to create inclusive spiritual environments for students from different religious backgrounds because they see the religious diversity of their student body as a resource upon which to build.

New York University in particular stands out as a model for vibrant interfaith community building. Barely more than a year ago, NYU opened the Global Center for Academic and Spiritual Life on its campus in lower Manhattan. This new building houses the Islamic Center and Catholic Center at NYU, and hosts Friday evening prayers for the Jewish campus community each week.

In 2011 a student club at NYU—Bridges: Muslim-Jewish Interfaith Dialogue—coordinated an event where Jewish students attended the Friday afternoon service at the Islamic Center, while Muslim students attended the Friday evening Shabbat service later that night. Naturally, the group titled the program the “Jum’ah/Shabbat Experience.” This event demonstrated that multifaith initiatives need not ignore religious differences and can instead embrace religious difference as an opportunity to learn more and broaden horizons.

While the Spiritual Life Center at NYU hosts many significant interfaith events, some of the most innovative and inspiring initiatives take place beyond its walls. In March 2012, in connection with President Barack Obama’s Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge, the White House highlighted a joint effort—led in part by the Bridges student group—in which both Muslim and Jewish students from NYU volunteered to help repair homes damaged by a tornado in Alabama. Chelsea Garbell, president of Bridges and a senior at NYU,explained the larger collaborative vision of the effort: “If we [Muslims and Jews] can learn from one another and develop an understanding of our similarities and differences, we can stand together as human beings in an effort to better the world around us.” By cultivating genuine interfaith relationships and taking interfaith discussions beyond the safety of the university grounds, students can both develop themselves and extend interfaith reach and significance to the greater community.

But NYU’s interfaith efforts also go beyond extracurricular activities: Administrators are bringing interfaith discussions into the classroom. Over the past year NYU chaplains Imam Khalid Latif and Rabbi Yehuda Sarna have been teaching a joint course, titled “Interfaith Dialogue, Leadership & Public Service: Traditions of Engagement in the U.S. & Beyond.” Students from diverse religious backgrounds have taken the course, where they learn how to build a better world while forming an authentic interfaith community—all in the safety of a college classroom. This means that they have a chance to interact with those of different faiths in a calm, intellectual setting, where they can truly air their opinions and hear from those who think differently, deepening their sense of other religions as well as their friendship as classmates.

Through these efforts and others, NYU is actively cultivating a community where students from distinct faith traditions can engage as classmates and fellow human beings, and where they can come away enriched instead of divided.

The result: Standing together through a crisis

The Associated Press reported in February that the New York Police Department was keeping Muslim students at NYU under surveillance because of their religious affiliation. Muslim students were outraged and organized a rally against this invasion of privacy. Atheists, Christians, Sikhs, Jews, Hindus, and others stood together with their Muslim classmates at the rally, bringing to life the slogan “NYUnited,” which was emblazoned across the t-shirts worn by many rally attendees.

Among the many speakers who stood before the podium at the foot of NYU’s Grand Staircase was Ariel Ennis, a Jewish student. Ennis shaped much of his speech around a quote fromAbraham Joshua Heschel, a prominent Rabbi during the Civil Rights Movement. Ennis said:

We may disagree about the ways of achieving fear and trembling, but the fear and trembling are the same. The demands are different, but the conscience is the same, and so is arrogance, iniquity. The proclamations are different, the callousness is the same, and so is the challenge we face in many moments of spiritual agony.

Ennis was able to speak as a Jew to a largely Muslim audience that day primarily because of his efforts and the efforts of the larger NYU community to develop a strong interfaith community—one that promotes solidarity despite difference and fosters unity without uniformity. As he reflected on the “most profound impact” that interfaith community development had for him, Ennis said that “[It] is not that we have necessarily solved world crises, but we have formed real friendships, deep and meaningful friendships, with many members of the [Muslim] community.”

Conclusion

The lesson of moments such as this seems clear: Building community takes time, effort, and the firm belief that our shared core values are more essential than our differences. Such efforts are central to our well being as a democratic nation. In the face of terrorist threats from Al-Qaeda and other groups of religious extremists, we must stand together as a nation of many cultures and faiths, instead of splintering apart from intolerance and hate.

Anti-Muslim prejudice, hate rhetoric, and bigoted actions divide and weaken our country. According to the FBI, hate crimes against Muslim Americans increased by 50 percent in 2010—the highest number since 2001. Muslim Americans seeking to worship according to their faith have seen their mosques defaced, burned, and destroyed.

But if we choose—much like Ariel Ennis and others at NYU and at other institutions around the country have chosen—to stand together, cultivating our commonalities while celebrating our differences, then we can stem the tide of religious intolerance. Together we can continue to uphold the American values of freedom and tolerance for all.

Aaron Shapiro is an intern with the Faith and Progressive Policy Initiative at the Center for American Progress. For more on this initiative, please see its project page.

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Universities Welcome Muslim Students Through Interfaith Efforts

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Interfaith and Higher Education (Part 4): The Better Together Movement

May 15, 2011March 27, 2020 bcicirel DePaul Interfaith Programs, DePaul University, Dialogue, Global Interfaith Movement, Peace, Prayer/Reflection/Meditation, Seeds of Mission, Service, Social Justice, United States

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This is the fourth article in a several part series throughout this quarter, written by Nic Cable, focusing on the complexities of interfaith work in higher education. These articles are in conjunction with an academic independent study project on the same themes.

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The Better Together Campaign is not about feeding or clothing homeless people; it’s not about raising money to help Haiti or other developing countries; it is and always will be a method of igniting the spirit of humanity, awakening our minds to the deep and limitless potential we share, if and when we choose to recognize it, come together, and work to spread justice and peace throughout the world. Continue reading →

Striving for Religious Tolerance Must Be a Global Movement

April 18, 2011 bcicirel Christianity, Global Interfaith Movement, Islam, United States

Terry Jones Promoting "Burn A Koran Day"

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This article was written by Peter Dziedzic, a sophomore at DePaul, who is pursuing a double major in Religious Studies and English. Peter is the co-President of DePaul Interfaith and member of the Executive Committee of the Better Together Campaign at DePaul University. Follow Peter on Twitter.

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Last month, an act of religious intolerance and spiritual ignorance scarred the progress that had been made in interfaith relations across this nation and across the world. Terry Jones, the Florida pastor condemned for making a push to establish “Burn a Koran Day” on the 9th anniversary of 9/11 last year, went ahead as planned and burned a Qur’an, offering a message that is thrown only in dark ages and wearisome times – we will not tolerate that which we do not know, and we will not welcome those who are not like us. Continue reading →

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Striving for Religious Tolerance Must Be a Global Movement

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